Love Behind a Screen
by MiraculousPhantom639
Summary: Nino and Alya have a devious plan to get Marinette and Adrien together, but will they discover more than what they were expecting?
1. Signing Up

**I felt like after dealing with some recent personal stuff I wanted to make something along the lines with online romance, so what better way to do by using Adrien and Marinette in this situation! I feel like I can really get somewhere with this sort of idea, but I'm not entirely sure if I can make it entirely fit the characters all that well.**

 **Oh well, I guess I'll just give it a try! I want to aim to have this as a one-shot but if it turns into an actual story I don't think I'd be making it that long...XD Anyways, enjoy reading!**

 **Miraculous Ladybug (C) Thomas Astruc/ Zagtoon**

Autumn leaves flew through the delicate branches, the season was changing, and the time for warmer clothing was approaching fast. Nature tended to never stop, it's what it did best, and it never stopped moving forward. It was something that everyone needed to keep up with, but it was hard for some.

It was especially hard for Marinette and Adrien.

Running a double life wasn't easy, and as much struggle as it was they managed to get through it all without harm. Yet while they were getting through school and their superhero lives at the same time, nature had devious plans for these two, something that would begin with a login screen.

"Come on Marinette, I assure you it's a great idea!"

"But Alya..." Marinette groaned, staring blankly at the screen. "What if this doesn't work? You always said I could just confront him..." She implied, before blushing hard as she thought about confronting her long time crush Adrien.

Alya shook her head with doubt. "No you don't girl, this will work I guarantee it. This way you can talk to him all you want without falling over or stuttering, you have the power of the keyboard and nothing else." Alya explained in assurance, waving her hand over the keyboard as if it were magical.

A huff of breath escaped Marinette's lips, her eyes looked at where she had to input her username. The cursor forever blinking as it waited for her fingers to make contact with the keyboard. All that Marinette could think about was how much of a stupid idea this was.

"What if he doesn't have an account on here? What's the point of this then?" She asked before sighing in thought about this idea. "Maybe I should just work up some courage then try to at least say hi to him in person..." She suggested, almost no hint of hope in her voice.

Alya shook her head firmly. "No, this will help you build up the courage to talk to him! I know it will help you two be together!"

Marinette sighed, before she glanced at the computer screen before inputting a username. "How's this name?" She asked, looking up at Alya who had been standing next to her the entire time.

The only response Marinette got out of Alya was a small snort and a chuckle. "Seriously? That's your username?!" She said, with seemingly high doubt it was a fitting username for her, but she shrugged and brushed her hand on Marinette's shoulder. "It's your name, go for it then!" Alya demanded enthusiastically.

After managing to creep past his father, Adrien was able to let Nino into his room without his father even noticing, he was glad Nathalie let Nino in too. Adrien fell into his seat before turning on his computers, feeling doubtful over this idea Nino had.

"I already like someone; I don't feel like going on this site will help me find her better." He implied, a hand resting on his chin.

Nino casually rested a hand on Adrien's desk, feeling much like Adrien's wingman in all this. "Don't worry about it dude, you'll totally find the girl you're looking for through this site. I guarantee it." He assured with a smirk and a wink.

Adrien hummed in thought. _"If only he knew who I was really talking about..."_ Adrien thought to himself as he took a deep breath through his nose. _"Maybe I might have a chance at finding her on here...who knows?"_

He didn't let Nino push him to do it any further; he typed in his username and proceeded. Nino glanced at his username and almost chuckled with how hilarious it looked.

"Okay man, if you insist going with that name. I'm not sure if she'll find you that way, but by all means go ahead." Nino insisted, having doubts on the name.

Meanwhile, Alya had shown Marinette all she needed to know about the site. She waited for the name to pop up on her phone, and once it did, it made her wonder out of curiosity why he would pick such a name, but she shrugged her shoulders and pointed Marinette over to that name.

"Hey how about him? That looks like something he'd write." She implied, though not actually knowing why Adrien would pick such a name.

"BlackCat3? That can't be him, how does that look like something he'd write? It actually seems like someone's a huge fan of Cat Noir or that is Cat Noir on this site trying to find Ladybug or something." Marinette explained in slight disgust, imagining that guy trying to find her though this. It made her gag just at the thought of it.

Meanwhile, Nino had just gotten a text back stating Marinette's username. He nodded with a smile and texted Alya thanks before suggesting the name to Adrien, he wasn't sure about the username Marinette had chosen to use but he hoped Adrien wouldn't think of it in the wrong way. Even though Marinette seemed to act like Ladybug from time to time she certainly wasn't her.

Nino saw the name on screen as Adrien was scrolling aimlessly through countless other users on the site, before Nino stopped and saw Marinette's username. "Stop! Choose that one."

At first glance, Adrien thought that all of this was a terrible idea, Nino didn't even know Ladybug personally. But at the same time neither did he, he only knew as much as he could see, he didn't know who she really was, and for all he knew this username could just be a diehard fan wanting to be Ladybug.

Or deep down maybe this really was Ladybug.

"I don't understand...why would this girl I like you think you actually know personally and never told me about it until today is actually BugGirl1?" He questioned his friend; feeling like this was being pushed too far.

Adrien sighed before he moved the cursor over to the log out icon. "This was all a bad idea, I don't even know why I'm doing this, or why you let me do this...I can just see her in person!"

"Yeah..." Nino stated, but seeing how clueless Adrien was about Marinette liking him it seemed like the best way for them to talk to each other one on one without even knowing each other. "But this is a great way to talk to her without her knowing who she's really talking to!"

" _How does that even work? She would just think she was talking to some stranger if that was the case! If only Ladybug knew that I was Cat Noir...but then what would happen...? I don't know...this is too complicated..."_

"Look Nino, I appreciate you trying to help me find her but I think it's just best for me to tell her in person." Adrien assured his best friend, feeling like confronting Ladybug in person about it was the best idea, at the same time he tried to imagine it, it wouldn't go so well.

Nino shook his head firmly. "No, I'm not leaving until you add her...or until your father finds me. I feel like she would pick that sort of name."

"I don't know how you'd know that..." He replied sarcastically. "But I guess there's no harm in doing this..." He ended with a sigh, moving away from the log out icon and hovering over the name.

 _BlackCat3 has requested to chat with you, BugGirl1_

"He sent me a chat request!?"

 **Lol I love what I did there at the end...Chat...XD But anyways, yes I make these chapters for my stories at random lengths now, that and I found it fitting to end the chapter there. So it looks like I'll be making a story out of this. Well, let me know what you think of it so far and I'll get to updating it within the next week or so ;)**

 **Thanks for reading! ^^**


	2. New Reactions

**Been a bit slack with a lot of stuff lately, this story included, but because I'm back on my studies, the last semester in fact of two years. So before you jump to conclusions about assuming I won't have time to do this story anymore, it was the fact that I was on break that I wasn't able to organise my time to do things like this because I like sticking to a schedule and during that six week break I had…scheduling did not exist to me anymore…XD**

 **So I'm hoping that now I'm back on a proper schedule I'll be able to organise my time better and find time to work on this instead of deciding to put it off another day and then it just doesn't get done for several weeks. But anyways, I hope you enjoy Chapter 2 of this story, and thanks to all of you for the positive feedback! :D**

 **Miraculous Ladybug © Thomas Astruc/ Zagtoon**

 **Chapter 2 – New Reactions**

"Go for it girl, click yes!" Alya demanded, shaking the back of Marinette's chair in excitement.

Marinette didn't exactly like how Alya was behaving to her, it seemed all too much like she was up to something devious, but at the same time she knew Alya was just trying to help her friend out and be supportive. So, without any further hesitation, she clicked on yes and before she knew it, she was there in a chat room with Adrien, she thought her heart would be racing and her face heating up, but none of that was happening, maybe it was because she was hiding behind a screen.

However, once Adrien had said something to her, Alya squealed in excitement as Marinette's face went as red as a tomato, her teeth clenched as she realised that Adrien had said the first words to her.

" _Hello there."_

Marinette said there in silence, Alya pushed Marinette in closer to the screen. "Well, go on then! Say something back!"

It was beginning to get on Marinette's nerves that Alya was being so pushy about this, she grunted in slight pain as Alya gave her a small push closer to the screen. "Alya! I can see the screen just fine!" She exclaimed, really beginning to feel like Alya was too committed to this.

She took in a deep breath and sighed, knowing that this was a huge step, she had no idea how Adrien could agree to this sort of thing too, it didn't exactly make sense in her mind. But she decided not to let it complicate her mind and stuck with responding to whom she assumed was Adrien.

" _Hi"_

The moment she pressed enter, she heard Alya scoff in disappointment. "Just hi? Girl, say more than that! Ask about his day to keep the conversation going!"

But before Marinette could say anymore, he had responded.

" _How are you?"_

Marinette felt relieved that she wouldn't be stuttering in front of him because they were both behind a screen, it was one of the only good things that came out of doing this, she could actually think about what she wanted to talk about without freaking out or shaking or stuttering.

This conversation continued for some time, but remained dull from Nino and Alya's perspective, from Adrien and Marinette's it was confusing and nerve-racking. By the time they knew it the conversation was over, Nino had to go home and so did Alya, both Adrien and Marinette logged off from the site, and continuously questioned why their best friends would make them do that.

"Tikki, it just doesn't make any sense…. he can easily talk to me in person…this whole online chatting thing seems weird. I mean, it does help me talk to him without my stammering and everything… But we didn't even ask if we were really who we were thinking, what if I'm talking to a total stranger!?" She cried, hands clenched in her hair in a panic.

The little kwami gave her a gentle pat on the shoulder. "Don't worry Marinette; I'm sure you're talking to Adrien, why would Alya be so on board with it if it wasn't him?" She explained, making sense of what Marinette was thinking about.

Marinette knew Tikki had a point, but at the same time, it all still felt extremely confusing. Why would Adrien be on this site? How could he be on the site at the same time as her and talk to her even though he could just as easily talk to her in person? Thousands of questions battled her mind, it began to overwhelm her, but it was getting late so she decided to focus on other things before going to bed thinking about what was going to happen at school when she saw Adrien?

Things were certainly going to seem different when she was around him.

Meanwhile, Adrien was feeling like this was some sort of prank Nino was pulling on him just to get with some girl whom Nino supposedly knew but Adrien felt like Ladybug didn't know Nino that well, but he can't tell for sure since he didn't really know her secret identity.

"I don't know why you're so fond over Ladybug; she's just the same as everyone else." Plagg exclaimed, stuffing his mouth full of more cheese.

Adrien narrowed his eyebrows at the little kwami, knowing Plagg didn't care much for love, but ever since he met Ladybug, his thoughts on her never change. That incredible girl behind the mask, so determined, so confident and bright, and willing to do anything to protect everyone from harm. He was the perfect girl, he sighed dreamily as he thought about her qualities, and she almost seemed to have no flaw, the perfect girl for him.

"She's the most amazing girl I've ever met; she's not like other girls. Her top priorities aren't looking pretty and going to the mall everyday to shop for new clothes, she's a real girl whose top priority is to help protect Paris from Hawkmoth." Adrien explained, his voice tinted with gleams of hope and happiness.

The little black cat kwami gagged at the thought of Adrien and Ladybug being together, it sickened him to almost the point of not being able to eat, but once he smelt the delectable aroma of camembert he acquired his taste back again.

Adrien decided not to think too much of it, he felt like there were too many questions left unanswered that would only keep him up all night. There was no way the girl she was talking to was indeed Ladybug, he knew no one knew her secret identity so how could Nino know about Ladybug? He knew she wasn't Ladybug all the time and that she had a personal life...unless he was talking to Ladybug's secret identity?

No, he didn't let his mind jump to that ultimate conclusion, he didn't even know who Ladybug really was, or who this girl he was chatting to online really was or what she looked like. He didn't even know if this girl went to the same school as him. It felt all too suspicious to him, but it was getting too late into the day to start thinking about something this confusing and complicated, so he left it at that for the night and caught up on some much needed rest.

The next day, Alya and Marinette had arrived in class and were waiting for the teacher come in to start the class. The moment Nino and Adrien came in, Marinette couldn't help but rub her eyes twice as she just thought she saw Nino wink and give Alya the finger guns. Was something going on between them?

"What's with you and Nino?" Marinette asked, leaning in closer to her best friend.

"Nothing girl," She replied confidently. "We're good friends that's all." Alya said with a warm smile.

There was definitely something up with Alya and Nino, she wasn't sure if it was linked in any way to the online chat thing from the previous day, but she could tell that there was something going on. Then, he thoughts quickly changed when he saw Adrien look at her with a warm greeting smile and wave. She held her breath, before she waved with a wide nervous smile.

Things seemed to still act the same as before, did he even know he was chatting to her online now? It was too early to make assumptions, and she was too afraid to ask him about it. Before she could think more into it, the class had started.

But it was definitely something Marinette wasn't going to permanently stop thinking about until she had all the answers.

 **There's another chapter for you! So sorry about not updating this sooner, I'd say why but I think I'm getting too repetitive with how many times I say sorry and say why I didn't update sooner. Well, I think you guys don't care why I didn't update it sooner, the important thing is that I finally updated it.**

 **So, I'm trying out some new things with this story, and I've already got good ideas for the next few chapters. And I do apologise if this chat thing seems confusing, especially on Adrien's side, I'll try to explain it better in further chapters. ;)**


	3. Taking a Risk

**Well then, it's been quite a while hasn't it? I am really sorry I didn't update this sooner, most of you probably think I abandoned this story, and I wouldn't be surprised if you thought so, this hasn't been update in like 5 months… Again, I'm really sorry I left this story and didn't bother updating it sooner, but I do promise now to update this story (and the other story I haven't worked on in a while) more often until I've finished them.**

 **I do have more story ideas in mind, particularly after the more recent season 2 episodes from Miraculous Ladybug (I won't reveal anything, in case spoilers) but I'd like to finish my incomplete stories first before I start anything new. Therefore, without any more delay here is Chapter 3 of Love Behind a Screen. :)**

 **Miraculous Ladybug © Thomas Astruc/ Zagtoon**

 **Chapter 3 – Taking a Risk**

It had been several weeks, and every night Adrien and Marinette would spend times talking to each other, neither of them knowing who they truly are behind that screen. They both still felt sceptical about this whole online chat idea Alya and Nino came up with, but even if this wasn't the person they were thinking it was, they were still quite a fun person to talk to.

On a few occasions, it did seem mildly suspicious that they both had to leave when there were akuma attacks, but they both simply assumed that they had to make sure their families were safe and that they themselves were safe from harm.

As Ladybug and Cat Noir, neither of them spoke about it, Ladybug felt like she shouldn't tell him anything about her personal life. And as much as Cat Noir really wanted to know if he was actually chatting to Ladybug, he felt like they should just continue chatting online until he felt completely confident that he was talking to Ladybug.

Yet, even if he was completely confident it was her, he wouldn't know how to tell her, because what if she didn't know it was him, what if she thought she was talking to someone else? He didn't want to risk it, and thinking about it during the heat of battles only made his head ache. He still wondered why Nino set him up like this, and how could Ladybug know him personally. Sure, he always wondered if she went to the same school as him, that was a possibility, but he always felt like Ladybug was more of a person who only had one or two friends in her personal life. Nevertheless, who was he to assume, he didn't want to make assumptions about her, especially when he didn't know much about her personal life.

Somehow, it felt like he was getting to know her better through talking to her online, although he wasn't certain it was her or not, he was beginning to feel like he was talking to someone entirely new, yet at the same time it all felt too familiar to him, like he had somehow knew this girl before. He wanted to question why Nino set him up like this, because it was very suspicious of him to sign up to a site where he happens to find someone who he thinks might be that person Adrien is looking for.

In the end, they both wanted to know exactly who they were talking to, yet they felt like their best friends were doing the right thing by finding their special someone over the net. It was not a common way, but it began to seem like many relationships start online. From looking over this online site, many people seemed to use it, yet they couldn't be sure if this site was exactly successful.

Although, talking to other people online seemed to help a lot of people communicate, yet it also seemed like people could say whatever they want since it was behind a screen. Yet, somehow Adrien felt like he was talking to a genuinely honest person, and so did Marinette. However, neither of them could be completely certain without asking the actual person themselves.

But neither of them could speak to the other right, Marinette was too shy to do anything, and Adrien wouldn't have a good opportunity to ask Ladybug if it really was her that he was talking to, asking her as Cat Noir would just be too confusing as she didn't know that he and Cat Noir were the same person.

One night, however, Marinette sparked an idea to find out if it really was Adrien. She was worried it wasn't going to work but she was willing to take a chance.

She sighed as she sat down in front of her computer screen, her stomach reaching its full capacity after a well-cooked meal. Marinette rested a hand on her stomach to lessen her fullness feeling as her other hand reached for her mouse. Tikki revealed herself from behind Marinette's shoulder, floating by her head as she watched Marinette open up the chat once again, Tikki expressed concern to Marinette's idea.

"Are you sure this is a good idea? What if it isn't Adrien you're talking to?" She asked, only worried that Marinette may be disappointed if it wasn't who she thought it was.

Marinette held her breath for a moment, this was a risk she was willing to take, and her only concern was that if Adrien wasn't able to go through with it. However, her thoughts stuck with determination and her fingers began to click the keys one by one on her keyboard.

" _Hello again."_

She didn't realise at first but her heart was pounding, was she that nervous to ask him? She took a deep breath to calm herself down, the moment she saw him responding she bit her lower lip, anxiously waiting for his response.

" _Hi, how are you?"_ He asked, adding a smile emoticon at the end of his sentence.

She responded delightfully, her response beaming with confidence and happiness, yet Marinette couldn't help but feel nervous about asking him about her idea. She clenched her hand close to her cheek as she talked to him for quite some time, until she eventually brought up her idea.

" _Hey…I was wondering if maybe tomorrow you could meet me at a certain place?"_

There, she said it. It was a huge thing to ask, and she was relieved that she could ask him so much easier this way, but she still felt her heart pounding and her forehead sweating. She looked up at Tikki with a worried smile, Tikki nodded with an assuring smile, telling her that if things went wrong she would be there to comfort her.

It seemed like an awful long time between when she hit the enter key to when she started to see him responding to her question. She hoped he would be willing to, but if not she would be disappointed but in a way would understand, because if it really was Adrien she knew he wouldn't have time because of his very busy and strict schedule made by his father.

Once Marinette saw him responding, that's when she was on the edge of her seat. She watched those three dots signifying he was typing for an awful long time, until she blinked and then there it was.

" _I'd love to meet with you."_

She was waiting for that unfaithful three-letter word, because that sentence he typed seemed to be leading towards a sad disappointing answer. But there was nothing, she even waited a good few minutes, but it seemed like that was his answer, she decided to wait a little longer, knowing he'd be quite busy usually. Marinette ended up waiting so long he started typing again but it wasn't related to his answer.

" _Are you still there?"_

Marinette blinked, staring at her screen for a full minute, before her hands slowly moved towards the keyboard, she typed a small yes in response.

All this time, Adrien felt nervous and yet delighted at the same time she was asking him to meet her. He would love to spend the afternoon with Ladybug, that's if he really was talking to Ladybug, but he felt like with what he's learnt so far about her no other girl could be any close to being ladybug than this girl.

He smiled as he saw her response; he later confirmed a time and meeting place for the both of them. It was in the park around two in the afternoon. On the desk, Plagg with sitting there with another smelly slice of camembert, scoffing it down before he commented blandly on what Adrien was planning to do.

"You really think you're going to actually meet her tomorrow? What if she's not Ladybug and somebody else?"

Adrien sighed, knowing that it was a possibility that all this time he might have been talking to someone else entirely, but he was confident it was her. However there was a slight off chance it wasn't Ladybug, because he doesn't have physical proof that it's really her.

"Well…if it isn't her I won't be disappointed, I'll be glad to meet a new friend. On the other hand, who knows? Maybe I'm talking to someone I already know." He assured, knowing that there would always be an upside to this, although as much as he would love for it to be Ladybug, he would be happy to make a new friend, and perhaps continue his chances as Cat Noir.

It only seemed difficult to talk with Ladybug as Adrien because she mainly appeared when there was danger lurking around and she would be too busy wanting to protect him to even talk to him in a calming matter. Whenever he wat Cat Noir she would kindly let him down, saying that they're only friends if he started to talk seriously about wanting to be more than just friends.

It was a risk he was willing to take.

Later on, Marinette was messaging Alya about tomorrow, Alya had suggested that they go out and find Andre's ice cream stand that's always on the move around Paris, but Marinette declined politely. It lead Alya to assume it had something to do with her talking with Adrien.

"Are you two going to meet up and actually go on a date!?" Alya exclaimed over the phone in excitement, causing Marinette to shift her phone away from her ear slightly.

Marinette chuckled at the thought; it wasn't exactly a date, as they had just arranged to meet at a certain place at a certain time. As much as she wanted to think of it that way, she didn't want to get too excited. "Alya, it's not a date. We simply just arranged to meet at a certain place at a certain time that's all."

Alya was quiet for a moment, Marinette assumed she was processing what Marinette just told her, and not long later, she sparked an idea. "Hey, how about wherever you and Adrien meet up, you could text me so then you could meet up with Nino and I and we can go get some of Andre's ice cream!"

It was a good idea, Marinette thought, but before she could fully process the idea, she realised that she would be with Nino. It made her curiosity boil as Alya had mentioned before that she and Nino were just good friends, but she did wonder what happened that day in the zoo when they were lock in an exhibit for a good hour or so. It seemed to her that there was something going on between those two, but Alya wouldn't admit anything. She decided now was not the time to look into it.

"We'll see Alya. But for now I should sleep, I'm helping dad in the morning with some early baking, he really loves it when I help, and even says that customers enjoy the pastries I make." She explained, recalling those moments in her mind with a delighted smile.

Alya chuckled, knowing how much Marinette and her family loved to bake, as it was their shop and where they lived as well. She sighed, before yawning as Marinette had reminded her how late it was getting. "Alright, goodnight girl, hope to see you and Adrien side by side tomorrow!" She eagerly said.

A slight tint of red appeared on Marinette's cheeks at the thought of being with Adrien for most of the afternoon tomorrow, and imagining having ice cream with him too sounded even more exciting she could hardly keep the smile off her face.

After saying goodbye, Alya hung up. Marinette collapsed on her bed with her phone still in hand, Tikki flew to her side, gently resting on the pillow. She sighed, looking up at Marinette's mildly worried face.

"Don't worry Marinette, I'm sure that no matter what happens tomorrow, you won't be disappointed." Her kwami assured.

 **Wow, I haven't written a chapter that long in ages...hopefully I can keep that up with upcoming chapters. Now I must say I'm glad that season 2 of this series kicked off, because it has given me motivation to work more on this story and hopefully finish it soon as well so I can focus on writing newer story ideas I have in mind.**

 **Until then however, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I know you guys will love what's going to happen in the next chapter, cus I already have an idea of what's going to happen, I hope you're prepared! ;)**


	4. Coincidence

**Hello again…I know it seems like I've forgotten this story. To be honest I actually haven't I just haven't found much time or motivation to continue this story, but I hate leaving things unfinished so I do promise to finish this story eventually, and not leave an 11** **th** **month gap between chapters.**

 **So because of Season 2 being recently finished I've been really in that mood for more Miraculous Ladybug stuff, and since I can't really draw that style well or have any drawing ideas at the moment I figured it's best I start by finishing off this story so you guys don't have to wait anymore. :)**

 **Enjoy the long awaited Chapter 4! ^^**

 **Miraculous Ladybug © Thomas Astruc/ Zagtoon**

 **Chapter 4 – Coincidence**

The next morning, Marinette woke up early to help her father with the bakery. She pulled up the blinds to let the bright morning sunshine in, the light beamed throughout the store, lighting up the freshly baked pastries Tom had just made as well as vibrating the colour on the rainbow coloured macaroons.

All Marinette could think about was meeting up with Adrien that afternoon, it was going to be just Adrien and her. She hoped Alya would not come along but by the sound of it from the day earlier she wouldn't be too far away, Marinette felt pressured knowing her best friend was watching her every move. It made her feel a little uncomfortable, and she knew after the fact Alya would be running up to her laughing and joking about how much of a klutz she was and how she stumbled on every sentence.

In a way, she wanted to be alone with Adrien, but at the same time, she felt like having her best friend nearby was a good idea in case things did not start to go well. She was happy to have Alya there for her; she only wished she wouldn't tease her every time she messed things up around Adrien. Marinette couldn't help but be nervous around the one guys she really likes.

After finishing up with the last baked goods before heading off to school, a person approaching the bakery caught the corner of her eye. She turned and gasped in surprise to see that it was Adrien, and he was coming into the bakery. Her hands began to shake as she quickly set down the tray of croissants and ran out the back door before Adrien could see her.

Seeing him already was nerve wracking, she didn't know if she was ready to look at him yet until this afternoon. She sincerely hoped she was seeing him this afternoon and not someone else. She stared through the gap of the slightly opened door to see Adrien approach the counter.

"Well hello there Adrien, are you here to see Marinette?" He asked with a smile.

Marinette's eyes widened as she began to bite her nails nervously, and wondered why her father asked that. What if Adrien knew already that it was her who he was talking to? She began to over think things, Tikki appeared by her side and told her to calm down. The moment she heard Adrien say no, she paused then sighed in relief.

"I'm here because this afternoon I'm hoping to meet someone special and I'd like to give them something nice from your bakery." He explained while also complimenting on Tom's fine bakery, he smiled happily in response.

"Oh, well aren't you in luck then, I've got the best thing just for you and this special someone!" Tom replied with beaming pride and a confident wink.

Tikki giggled as she saw the colour drain from Marinette's face. It was indeed Adrien she was seeing later today, unless this was a very big coincidence that he was meeting up with someone today as she was as well. In that moment her phone buzzed in her pocket, it caused Adrien to look towards the door while he was waiting. Marinette panicked frantically before she disappeared up into her room.

The moment she closed the hatch door she squealed in excitement, it was Adrien and he was going to get something for her from her parents own bakery. She beamed with happiness and excitement, but with the nervousness lingering there as well. Her nervousness showed more of its presence once she looked at her phone to see what that buzz was.

" _Hey girl, looking forward to later today with Adrien?"_ Alya texted with a wink emoticon at the end.

She sighed before responding to her best friend, Marinette then packed up her bag for school and slowly head downstairs, hoping Adrien wasn't still down there. Lucky to see that he had left already she breathed out easy, smiling as she proceeded to the door, before her father spoke up.

"Hey I hope that's you he's seeing later today. He bought something very special." He said with a smile and a wink, knowing just how adorable she and Adrien looked together.

His daughter bit her lip as her cheeks turned bright red. "Dad!" She moaned, feeling embarrassed that he thought Adrien was seeing her.

Then again, he was right, Adrien was seeing her later today, but he did not know that for sure. Marinette was still worried that it might be someone else that would turn up instead of Adrien; she even thought his username seemed a lot like something Cat Noir would write instead of him. She worried the most that Cat Noir would show up instead of Adrien, Marinette didn't hate him but she would hate to think that she had been talking to him instead of Adrien.

So she left off for school, throughout the classes she tried her best not to stare at Adrien much, though she could tell Alya was smiling deviously at her and noticed she took glances to Nino as well. During first break Alya told Marinette she needed to stay behind in class to catch up on some work, Nino told the same thing to Adrien. It was a bit suspicious but Marinette hoped it was just them flirting together or just simply studying together.

So Marinette decided to hang out with Juleka and Rose, she noticed that Rose had brought a camera to school and was taking lots of photos of her best friend. Juleka was happy to know her photo curse was broken, she only felt a little embarrassed that Rose was taking photos of her more often now.

Once class started again, Marinette asked why Alya took so long during break.

"I wanted to catch up on work like I told you, plus having Nino there was a great help. We were able to compare notes and progress quicker, but then we just ended up chilling in class by the time we were done." Alya explained casually.

Marinette suspected something was up, but decided not to take too much notice of it, she trusted Alya with what she said. The only thing she didn't really like was her teasing about how clumsy she was, and she grew flustered when Alya brought up meeting with Adrien again.

"So, looking forward to seeing him after school?" She teased with a smirk.

Marinette shook nervously with her teeth chattering slightly. "Uh of course I am, why wouldn't I look forward to seeing Adrien?" She replied nervously, the shakiness in her voice as she grinned nervously to her best friend.

Alya giggled in response, she could tell Marinette was nervous about being with Adrien alone. She and Nino really hoped it worked out between them, however with what Nino told her during break she wasn't sure Adrien fully liked Marinette that way, but she hoped that he would be more open towards Marinette's feelings once they started to show.

Time flew slow as the afternoon arrived, Adrien was hoping that the person he was meeting was Ladybug, but he could not be so certain it was her. He knows Ladybug too well; she wouldn't just reveal her secret identity to anyone, but at the same time he felt like he didn't know her well enough. Adrien only hoped that this wasn't some kind of prank Nino was pulling on him just so he could finally be with someone. As much as he wanted to be with Ladybug he was busy enough as it was, he hated that he had so little time due to his tight schedule and his strict father, but he could feel like it would work somehow.

Adrien just loved Ladybug so much that he was willing to do anything to have them be together, but he didn't want to force the love of his life to be with him if she didn't want to. Knowing Ladybug liked someone else hurt him inside. He wished he knew who this other person was, but at the same time it was best he did not know. It was both their priority to keep their identities a secret, and Adrien didn't want to be jealous in any way. He respected and trusted Ladybug too much to have any sort of negativity to her.

Once classes had ended for the day, he went to his locker. He made sure his little gift wasn't eaten or ruined in any way by Plagg, he sighed silently in relief to see it was still intact. Nino tapped him on the shoulder, startling Adrien in the moment, he turned his head to see Nino smirk and hold the edge of his cap casually.

"Good luck dude; hope to hear about it later." He said almost teasingly as he nudged his best friend.

Nino walked away with a smile and wave before disappearing out of sight. Adrien took a deep breath, holding the strap of his bag firmly and heading out to the front of the school. In all that time Marinette was watching him, Alya nudged Marinette slightly, only to make her jump and squeal as she caught herself in a daze. With a pout towards her best friend, she quickly grabbed her bag and closed her locker.

"Calm down Marinette, today will go awesomely I assure you."

How could Alya be so sure about her meeting up with Adrien? Marinette wasn't sure herself if she was really seeing Adrien or not, but if it wasn't him she would just try to make the most of it and just be nice to the person, and hope that the other person wasn't expecting more from meeting her.

Adrien had the same thing in mind in case Ladybug was not to show up. His heart belonged to Ladybug, but that didn't mean he was going to let this person down within an instant, he would at least be happy to accept them as a good friend. He only worried that the other person was expecting more than just being friends, that is if it wasn't Ladybug whom he was seeing today.

So Marinette and Adrien made their own way to the park, it was approaching the time at which they would meet. Marinette's heart was pounding as she drew her thoughts back to what happened earlier that morning. Adrien said that he was meeting someone special; she smiled widely at the thought of Adrien calling her special. Tikki reminded her to stay focused, as she should not be late.

She sat at the meeting place she and him discussed, and waited patiently for him to show up. Marinette only hoped that his bodyguard didn't drag him home, she would hate to sit there all alone waiting for no one. Tikki kept her company while she waited, she looked all around but could see no sign of Adrien, she was beginning to worry that he would not show up, or that someone else instead of him might show up.

Meanwhile, Adrien had taken the long route to have time to think to himself for a bit as he headed towards the park. He wasn't sure what to say if it actually was Ladybug, he was thinking of transforming but was worried that someone else was going to show up instead of Ladybug. He also remembered from the conversations that Ladybug would not normally act like that online with him if she knew whom he really was.

Plagg was getting annoyed with Adrien being indecisive, he just wanted to get back home and just sit in the fragrance of camembert, he just wanted this meeting over and done with so Adrien could take him back home, he was starving. Adrien sighed before telling Plagg to hide as he picked up the pace towards the park.

As soon as he entered the park, he scanned everywhere to find his lady with her signature red costume covered in black dots, but he could not see her anywhere. He did however, spot Marinette, and it seemed to be that she was waiting for someone. His curiosity grew as he thought it was Marinette who that he was talking to online, but Marinette never talked to him like that in real life, he didn't think it would be her that he would be seeing.

Marinette turned, her eyes half closed as she was slowly beginning to lose hope, but then she beamed with happiness when she saw Adrien approaching her. It was him, and this was it. She wanted to confess to him how much he meant to her, she only hoped that he would feel the same way.

 **Well, looks like I'm ending it there for you all! I guess I'm leaving it there wondering how many of you are still interested in this story and look forward to see what happens next. And don't worry, I'm not going to post the chapter several months from now I assure you. I've got my head back in the game and I am determined to work on this story until the very end! :D**

 **See you all soon for Chapter 5! ;)**


	5. A New Opening

**Alright let's just say personal issues have been happening and also I haven't been interested in writing my stories or doing my comics on deviantart lately, but sometimes I do get the sudden urge to work on something, like this or something else. Also video games have kinda taken over me, which is a bad thing yes. I am trying to look for a job so I can have my motivation come from that, but it's just hard for me that's all.**

 **Anyway, with Season 3 having just started not long ago, I feel like writing more of this story. Well, enjoy the chapter. :)**

 **Miraculous Ladybug © Thomas Astruc/ Zagtoon**

 **Chapter 5 – A New Opening**

Marinette stood up, her heart beating out of her chest, this was it, and she was finally going to confess. She saw Adrien carrying a small bag, which looked like a neat paper bag, a bag typically found in a bakery. It was from that morning, she was that special someone Adrien had mentioned. Her cheeks tinted red, her hands shook as she stood up and faced him, he approached slowly with a friendly smile and wave.

"Hello Marinette." He greeted.

As much as Adrien hoped to see Ladybug, he didn't mind meeting up with Marinette, with the lingering hope that Ladybug would show up still in mind. He only hoped his best friend didn't set him up with Marinette and this was just pure coincidence.

She fumbled with her fingers; Marinette struggled to force a response out of her mouth. She was too nervous to speak, and she could tell Adrien was waiting for a response too, he began to look worried, and that was when Marinette knew that she had to respond otherwise she would blow it and possibly never have another chance again.

"Hi Adrien." She replied, her voice shaking as she forced herself to make eye contact with the green eyes blonde hair teen.

Adrien paused his conversation to scan the area for his polka dotted lady, still no sign of her. He would give her time, for now this was a great chance to hang out with Marinette more while he waited. However, Marinette grew curious as to why he was looking around.

Her mind went into overdrive, thinking he wasn't looking for her, but looking for someone else. She didn't know whether she should ask or not, she could be wrong, but it felt like he wasn't thinking he'd be meeting her but someone else. She bit her lip, and before she could ask, Adrien spoke.

"How about we sit down and hang out for a bit?"

Marinette blushed, watching Adrien sit on the nearest bench; she followed, and sat next to him, giving him enough personal space to himself so she wouldn't make him feel uncomfortable. She watched him fiddle with the paper bag, her thoughts went straight back to that morning, remembering what Adrien said. Was she that special someone? How come Adrien never told her in person? Was he just as shy as she was?

She had so many questions, but couldn't ask them, worried that she would make the wrong assumption and things would be turned upside down completely.

"How are you Marinette?" He asked, closing the bag and looking towards the blue haired girl.

Her eyes darted in several directions, she felt like this was the worst her nervousness has ever been, her words would not leave her thoughts to speak. She wanted to say something, but almost couldn't. When she saw his worried face, she knew she had to respond.

"I'm okay…I guess I'm just well…I'm nervous to be honest." She admitted, she could feel her face heat up as she confessed how much of a nervous wreck she was in front of him.

This was supposed to be a nice lovely meeting with the love of her life, and she felt like it wasn't going very far. Hopefully Adrien would reassure her that there was nothing to be nervous about, or that he was nervous too, she would understand. What other reason could there be?

Adrien gave a look of confusion. "Nervous? Why is that?" He questioned.

This sudden response made Marinette pause herself, she felt like he was clueless, it felt almost frustrating to hear those words. But she felt the need to be respectful and not question it, instead she answered with the rest of the courage she had within her, it was finally time to tell him.

"It's just that…I can't believe you're here."

Now it was Adrien's turn to pause for a moment, he had no idea what she meant by him being here. He started to suspect that Nino did set him up with Marinette and it was Marinette whom he was meant to meet. He felt it was best to kindly probe her to see if she was the one he was meant to meet here.

"Wait, are you saying that I was the person you were meant to meet here?"

This sounded worrying; Marinette bit her lip but answered respectfully. "Yes. Am…I the person…you were supposed to…meet here...?"

There was a moment of silence, nothing to be heard but distant chatter of other fellow people in the park and the sound of dogs barking, birds chirping and cars driving past the park. It was a long and painful silence Marinette had to endure, something was wrong, she could feel it. He questioned whether she was waiting for him, meaning he wasn't waiting for her…but for someone else.

"Adrien..?" She asked, wanting the silence to end.

The blonde teen let out a sigh, his eyes closed slowly as his eyes glanced down at the paper bag which he had bought a special treat for that special someone. "Sorry Marinette. I was hoping to see…someone else."

Her heart almost shattered, she knew it. There was someone else he liked, but she didn't lose hope, she still wanted to be his friend at least. A tear escaped her eyelid but she prevented anymore from escaping, because she wanted to handle this well. It was heartbreaking hearing that the one you're in love with is in love with somebody else. Marinette didn't dare ask who that special someone was, so to not sound jealous or upset.

Instead, she looked down with a heavy sigh, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. "Oh…that's okay I understand." She responded softly.

"I'm sorry Marinette; I didn't mean to hurt you." He said regretfully, hoping he wouldn't lose her as a friend after this.

He felt like he had broken her heart, feeling like all that talk about meeting each other in person, and thinking that he was talking to Ladybug hurt him; he had been played by Nino to get with Marinette. Nino didn't understand that Adrien was in love with Ladybug, not Marinette. He wasn't mad at him, Adrien never told him who he was in love with so he wouldn't blame him for doing this. Adrien would make it straight with him tomorrow, saying he can't find that girl over the internet, and that he would just keep hoping and waiting for that right moment.

Turning to see Marinette saddened, but not upset in the slightest, was a little confusing for him. Adrien thought that such a big thing like this meeting would affect her, yet again; he didn't want to have assumptions on Marinette. He knew Marinette was a brave and tough girl, kind of reminded him of Ladybug sometimes.

The need to tell her who it was felt necessary, but at the same time, he worried that he would hurt her further. He didn't hear her ask, the silence grew cold between them, and stayed longer the more they sat there, keeping their eyes focused on other things than on each other. Adrien turned to look at her, from the side she looked quite similar to Ladybug, it was uncanny. He felt that he should tell her, just to relieve the pressure off his chest.

"I'm…in love with Ladybug." He confessed.

Boom. Marinette's heart stopped for what seemed like a full minute, her eyes opened to their widest, and her jaw dropped as she began to breathe heavily. Adrien's words were now permanently glued into her mind.

He was in love…with Ladybug. Adrien was in love with Marinette's alter ego. Her mind clicked in that moment, she realised that Adrien was in love with Marinette…but the Marinette behind the mask.

Adrien turned, and saw that she was shocked, her breathing heavy, her body forever still and her eyes did not blink once. He immediately regretted telling her, she was going to get upset for sure now, and he could tell in her eyes that it was going to happen.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that…"

There was no word from Marinette, her mind still exploding from what he just confessed to her. Yet, Marinette managed to turn her eyes towards him, she could see the apologetic look in his emerald shaded eyes. She needed to respond, she felt like she was giving him the wrong response. Her body language spoke of shock, she needed to calm herself and think carefully.

It almost drove her mad that she could tell him then and there that she was Ladybug, but she knew she couldn't, for the sake of her secret identity. She bit her lip, before finally calming her thoughts and taking a deep breath, then turning to Adrien with a small yet shaky smile.

"No, it's alright. Ladybug is a wonderful person, I'm…not surprised you like her."

A wave of relief rushed over Adrien's head, he was happy to know that Marinette was taking this well, but did worry whether she was hiding her true feelings. He didn't want to poke at her feelings, she was a good friend and didn't want to poke at their friendship, he smiled and turned towards her, feeling comfortable to talk about Ladybug in front of Marinette after confessing.

He sighed dreamily. "She is…I just love how brave, courageous, caring and smart she is. In fact I see some of Ladybug in you, you must draw a lot of inspiration from her."

The pain was getting to her, her mind urged her to tell him that she was Ladybug, but she just couldn't. It ached her whole body that she couldn't confess.

"Yeah, I do."

For the next half hour, Marinette held back her pain as Adrien talked more about Ladybug, but eventually diminishing the topic, as he felt like Marinette's words were beginning to sound tied up. So they talked about school and about how both Alya and Nino set them up together.

It turned out to be a wonderful time meeting up, despite the confession of Adrien loving someone else…which still happened to be the exact same person he just confessed it to. As they continued to talk as good friends, Adrien's phone rang.

"Adrien, where are you? You're supposed to be practicing your Chinese and piano." Nathalie informed.

Adrien sighed heavily. "I'll be there, sorry Nathalie." He said as he hung up, looking to Marinette in sadness. "I have to go, I'm sorry." He apologised, before turning to see his bodyguard waiting for him.

Marinette knew that it would happen eventually, his family was very strict on his schedule, and even she knew that he would be at home studying right now if it weren't for this meet up. She smiled, knowing he had to go now.

"It's okay, I understand." She replied in assurance.

Adrien smiled in relief, glad that Marinette was not upset from today's meet up. "I was happy to meet up with you, you're a true friend." He said as he got up from the bench, about to turn away before he realised what was still in his hand.

Marinette looked up at him in slight confusion, before he saw his eyes looking at the paper bag. He smiled before handing it to her.

"Here, you deserve my special gift."

She grabbed the paper bag from him slowly, her lips parted slightly as her cheeks grew redder than before. Her gaze never leaving his until he turned away with a friendly wave.

"See you in school Marinette." He said as he walked away.

Her hand waved slowly as Marinette continued to stay speechless, she didn't let her sight leave him, until he was in the car and out of sight. Tikki appeared from her little bag, wanting to review what just happened between her and Adrien.

"Are you okay, Marinette?" She asked primarily.

Marinette reached into the bag to see what Adrien had bought from the bakery earlier that day. She held it gently in her hand as she removed the paper bag with the other hand, and smiled softly, her eyes staring dreamily at the perfection in her hand.

"I'm going to be okay." She replied in assurance, before her smile widened in optimism. "I can do this."

Then she slowly savoured the perfection that was a cupcake in the shape of a heart with red icing and chocolate chips. A new opportunity arose in Marinette's head, this could still work for her.

 **Well, that was definitely a bit longer than previous chapters. I am trying to write more of these chapters as to make the story progress more, but it is hard as I do have family distracting me half the time when I'm writing, and I usually write stories late at night so my brain starts to go into sleep mode unfortunately and I lose my ideas.**

 **But hey, you didn't have to wait as long for this chapter to come out, and I promise there will be more coming. Even I'm excited to write more of this story just to see what I write next, but unfortunately it'll have to wait to another time. ;)**


	6. A Secret Opportunity

**I am sorry for not updating this story sooner, if some of you follow me you would've noticed that I was uploading chapters of my other now completed story Twist of Fate (Pixar Cars story), but now since that story is completed, I now plan to work on this one as much as possible until it's completely finished. ;)**

 **Now, I have noticed with the last chapter or two that I haven't included Alya and Nino as much, well this was mainly to do with Adrien and Marinette development, but I do want to stick with what I wrote in the description of this story, so I plan to have them appear more often just so it doesn't get confusing for you guys. :)**

 **Anyways, enjoy the delayed, but well deserved Chapter of Love Behind a Screen! ^^**

 **Miraculous Ladybug © Thomas Astruc/ Zagtoon**

 **Chapter 6 – A Secret Opportunity**

Laying in her bed, Marinette smiled with delight, Tikki was lying beside her in worry, feeling like Marinette was taking this the wrong way. She was going to speak up, but Marinette's phone buzzed like crazy as Alya's image showed up on her phone. Startling her initially, Marinette jumped in surprise before she reached for it and answered.

"Hey Alya, sorry I didn't call you straight away like I promised…" She admitted nicely, but knowing Alya was forgiving.

Alya sighed; her heavy breath caused white noise through the phone. "Girl, you need to tell me how it went, did Adrien confess? Did you confess to him?" She asked, emphasising on Marinette whether she confessed or not.

Marinette bit her lip; she forgot what she would tell Alya about what happened and the idea she had in mind to still make it work. She glanced at Tikki, hoping she would have an idea, but the kwami just gave her a sarcastic look with her eyelids lowered unamused. She decided to just tell her exactly what happened, minus the idea she had in mind to still make it work between her and Adrien.

"Well, I did try to confess…"

"And?" Alya asked, insisting on more information.

She paused, glancing out the window briefly to think about what she was saying; she hoped she would not accidentally blurt out her idea because of Adrien's confession. "Then he told me that he's in love with someone else…" Marinette replied, sounding mildly disappointed.

There was a brief moment of silence, for a second Marinette thought she had lost connection to Alya, but then she heard her breathing as it turned to white noise when it hit Alya's phone. "Oh, did he tell you who she was?" she asked, sounding a little suspicious of Marinette's words.

Marinette had to think for a moment, would it be best to tell Alya that Adrien was in love with Ladybug, she did not know how she would take it, and it seemed like Adrien had not told anyone else about his feelings for Ladybug so it might be best to keep it secret. At the same time, she hated keeping secrets from Alya, keeping her secret identity from her was for her own safety, but lying to her best friend was something not on her to-do list.

Breathing in deeply, she held her composure. "He likes Ladybug…" She said softly, trying not to sound happy about it as to not draw suspicion.

Alya gasped. "Adrien is in love with Ladybug?" She paused, thinking for a moment. "Did he say as in he admired her or did it seem like he personally knew her? If he did, that would get me a step closer to finding out who Ladybug really is!"

In response, Marinette's lips clamped shut, to prevent her from even thinking Alya was going to talk to Adrien about her alter ego that she did not know was actually her as well. "Um, it might be best not to tell him." She responded nervously, jittery evident in her words. "He sounded awful secretive about it; it sounded like he hadn't said much about it before." Marinette explained, sounding more concerned rather than upset.

"Hmm…" Alya thought to herself for a moment, she didn't want to hurt Adrien by asking him what he knew about Ladybug too much, it might eventually hurt his feelings and lose respect of privacy from her. "I suppose you're right." She answered. "But how about you? You don't seem so upset by this." Alya implied, sounding suspicious.

Marinette almost dropped the phone, shocked at the question. She lost all her thoughts in that moment, she didn't know what to say, her words came out mumbled and difficult to understand. Marinette could sense that Alya had somewhat of a smirk on her face while hearing her best friend panic in search of a response. "Well I guess because I can't compete with Ladybug and I can understand why Adrien likes her so much!" She replied nervously, hoping that was enough to convince Alya.

"If you say so girl, I'll get back to you on this, my older sister just got home from work, catch you later Marinette!" Alya replied joyfully, but also teasing her that this conversation was not over yet.

She placed her phone on the shelf above her bed, before she crashed face down into her pillow with a loud moan. "I hope that was enough…"

Tikki flew up to the shelf and sat beside Marinette's phone, with a serious expression on her face. "You do realise this could put your secret identity in danger. Alya suspects something about you, especially since you didn't sound too upset that Adrien liked Ladybug." She explained in a serious tone.

"I know Tikki, but this might be my only shot to finally be with Adrien." She replied in a dreamy tone, staring up at the pictures of him beside her and sighing deeply. "I know I wish he loved the real me, but for now I think him loving me as Ladybug is my best shot at finally being with him." She explained, Tikki sensing pain in her words.

It was not the best idea, but Tikki did want her to be happy, she only hoped that Marinette would not put her alter ego before her personal life and become selfish. She did not want Marinette to be Ladybug just to be with Adrien all the time. Another thought that had occurred, was that Adrien did not know that Ladybug liked Adrien, as in Marinette liking Adrien. She grew worried that Marinette would eventually reveal her secret identity to him and that might lead to terrible danger on Hawkmoth's part.

She sighed in response. "Just please be considerate of your secret identity. We don't want Hawkmoth finding out who you are just because you want to be with Adrien." Tikki insisted, wanting Marinette to keep her head straight.

"I will, don't worry. As much as I care for Adrien, I do care about the safety of others as well as my miraculous above everything else. I won't let my feelings for Adrien become Hawkmoth's weapon to get my miraculous." She assured, sounding a little too confident in herself, but then calming her excitement about her idea to be with Adrien as Ladybug. "But don't worry Tikki, I promise I won't tell him yet. I will tell him one day…" She admitted. "But I think by then I would be able to trust him with any of my secrets."

Tikki decided to leave those words in her mind, feeling like she would have to remind Marinette a lot that her powers were for saving people and defeating Hawkmoth, they were not for getting what she wanted, which was actually starting to sound kind of like Hawkmoth, and that scared Tikki the most.

The next day, there was a minor incident early in the morning in the subways, and Ladybug and Cat Noir were there to fix the incident. The train had accidentally been put onto the wrong track due to a track-switching mistake, but luckily, Ladybug's lucky charm that was a very long piece of rope managed to hold back the train from crashing into the other.

Shortly after, they were both about to depart, before Cat Noir asked Ladybug a question.

"Care to dine with me tonight M'lady?" He asked smoothly.

Ladybug sighed, her hand covering her face slightly. "I can't, I told you I'm into someone else."

Cat Noir replied with a saddened expression. "But why won't you at least tell me who he is, or at least give me another chance?" He asked, sounding desperate.

There was a pause as Ladybug began to climb the stairs, Cat Noir following a few metres behind. "I can't…we mustn't tell each other anything from our personal lives. Our identities must remain secret."

"I know…" He responded, deeply saddened, before he left Ladybug and hopped on roof to roof until he was out of site.

As Ladybug made her way towards the school, she found an alleyway to hide in to transform back. "Spots off." She said, and Tikki flew out of her earring, the kwami quickly hid away in Marinette's bag as she quickly made her way to school. Before she walked into the building, she was surprised to not see Adrien's driver there, or the car. She knew his schedule off by heart, and knew precisely when he arrived everyday to school. She decided not to think too much of it and headed on inside where an impatient best friend was waiting for her.

"Tell me the scoop girl, what is wrong with you?" She immediately asked as Marinette opened her locker.

Marinette jumped slightly as nonsense gibberish came out of her mouth in response, but not long before she began to construct understandable words. "Well, I mean I guess I am upset that Adrien doesn't like me in that way. But I can't blame him if he loves Ladybug, she is an inspiration." She explained in assurance, but with slightly nervousness in her voice.

"Just like Adrien is an 'inspiration' to your fashion designs?" Alya replied with a smirk.

Without thinking first, Marinette responded blindly. "Yes of course…I mean no! I just didn't want him finding out the real reason why I had so many photos of him in my room…,"She admitted, tilting her head down.

Alya placed a hand on her shoulder in support. "I can understand that, but you do realise if you don't tell him how you feel he'll never know. I do get that he likes Ladybug, and if I had no respect for his privacy I'd definitely be talking to him like an investigator trying to find out who Ladybug really is, but I feel like he's one of many people who likes Ladybug in that way. It's just the same with you liking Adrien; there are a lot of girls out there that like Adrien just as much as you do." She explained, giving her some form of assurance. "But you need to tell him sooner or later. I would tell him, but it's better that he hear it from you."

Marinette nodded and sighed. "I know, I'll keep trying, even if I know he likes Ladybug." Marinette stated, sounding slightly saddened but hopefully towards the end of her sentence.

Not long later, they were off to class for the day.

All day Marinette could not help but stare at Adrien much more frequently than usual, she was even caught a few times by the teacher and Adrien noticed too. Marinette never felt her cheeks so red in her life, but she held it together, knowing that she needed to get through class.

Throughout the day, she had an idea to meet up with Adrien sometime after class but as Ladybug. However, that was problematic; she did not just want to turn up as Ladybug out of nowhere, especially if there was nothing wrong. She could simply wait until an akuma attack again, but Adrien was rarely seen during most of the akuma attacks she and Cat Noir faced.

In the end, she decided to leave a note for him on his locker while he was in fencing, and drew a little ladybug drawing to show that it was from Ladybug. She snuck out of the locker room and towards home, knowing that he would be another half hour before he would even see the note.

That afternoon, Alya came to visit Marinette to discuss their latest homework assignments from Ms Bustier. Marinette knew she would have to leave as Ladybug soon to meet Adrien at the place she had written down on the note, but she had to think of a way to get out of studying homework with Alya. The problem was that she was leaving it too late, it was almost half-past four, and she knew he would be packing up by now and Adrien would see the note.

Another problem was that she couldn't think of a decent excuse in time, as she panicked for a way to go see Adrien as Ladybug, she immediately got out of her chair and clenched her stomach, faking her moans for moans in pain.

"Ouch…that hurt." She cried.

Alya got up from her seat. "You okay girl? Was it something you ate?" She asked.

Marinette held one hand at her stomach and the other at her head. "I don't feel well all of a sudden…I think I need to lie down…or I think the bathroom might be better for me right now." She implied, clenching her shirt harder.

"Take it easy, go wash up and rest. I'll call you later tonight to check up on you, we'll worry about this homework tomorrow after first period okay?" She replied, insisting Marinette take care of herself and rest.

She nodded in response as she fake moaned again, she dragged herself to her basin and began to wash her face while Alya left the room. The moment Alya had closed the hatch; Marinette turned off the taps and smiled in delight.

"Alright Tikki, let's go meet Adrien. Spots on!"

 **Well as soon as I get you people back into the story, I may as well get you hanging for more as well. Don't worry about the next chapter being delayed a few months, I promise to work on this story until it's completed, and then I'll start making more Ladybug stories for you all!**

 **Can I just tell you all a fun fact? Believe it or not, I have a document saved that is named 'lbforget' and it was made January last year. It was a story idea I had that I never got around to doing. I mainly just wrote down the idea at the time because I didn't have time to actually create a story behind it, but the idea sounds a lot like a recent and popular episode that just came out ;)**

 _ **Akuma with ability to make people forget makes ladybug and cat noir forget who they are**_

 **That's exactly what I wrote. And I'm so annoyed at myself for not making this idea sooner before they even released the synopsis for the season three episodes…oh well, at least you know I have a creative mind just like the team behind creating the wonderful show! ^^**


	7. Blossoming Love

**I do wish the show would have a better episode-airing schedule, because it is so random. I was not even expecting season 3 to be out so soon. However, we are already several episodes in and the show is only getting more and more interesting!**

 **Anyways, I am very happy to see people are still taking interest in this story; I love the reviews I have been getting (including deviantart, since I post this story there too). Also, I'm not so sure about how long this story will be, I was thinking around 15 chapters, but to be honest I am writing these chapters as I go along, but I think I'll just stick with 15, since usually I would do 10 but I don't think we're near any sort of conclusion just yet.**

 **So enjoy another short waited (trust me, you're not waiting as long for this one) chapter of Love Behind a Screen! ^^**

 **Miraculous Ladybug © Thomas Astruc/ Zagtoon**

 **Chapter 7 – Blossoming Love**

Ladybug leapt from her balcony and out into the streets of Paris, her heart racing with excitement, but she knew she had to remain content about everything; she needed to remember that she was Ladybug, and he did not know that she is Marinette. She knew that if she started acting like how she would if she was Marinette, Adrien might think something was up, so she had to keep her nervousness under control.

Her heart skipped a beat when she went back to her thoughts as she swung from her yoyo from rooftop to rooftop, thinking about that moment when Adrien said he was in love with Ladybug. Her cheeks grew red thinking about it, however she could not help but wonder how he loved her, she had thought about it before and assumed that he just simply admired her as a hero, but it feels like he is more connected to her than she knows.

It was confusing, but before she could think about it any longer, she made it to her meeting spot, in a nice secluded place within the Louvre museum, where they had encountered each other previously, which was the Egyptian area. She was lucky no one paid much attention to her, besides the security guards, but she assured them that she was just on patrol and wanted to check inside the museum for any possible akuma attacks.

She made her way towards the Egyptian exhibit, there was not any sign of Adrien yet, and she did not recall seeing his bodyguard's car outside, but she did suspect that he would have to leave home secretly, or make something up, so she wasn't sure whether to expect to see the car or not.

The time was a few minutes after the time she arranged to meet Adrien here; Ladybug grew worried that he would not show up, most likely because of his father. However, before she could start losing hope, she heard footsteps approaching, she smiled with hope as she approached the footsteps from the side entrance, and there he was.

Adrien looked up and saw Ladybug, the love of his life standing there, he could not believe it. Was she the one who put the note there? He thought. His cheeks grew warm and pink as his gaze never left his lady's beautiful bluebell eyes, however the silence was deafening, and words had to be spoken.

"Hello…" Adrien welcomed shyly, smiling as he nervously scratched his head.

Ladybug wanted to move forward but she felt like something was stopping her, within seconds she realised it was her nervousness as if she were Marinette in that very moment. She needed to convince herself that she was not, she was Ladybug, she was a confident young lady who always stood her ground and never got this nervous before. Taking a deep breath, she smiled and waved, before her hand immediately wrapped behind her neck in nervousness.

"Hello Adrien, I'm…glad you could make it." She breathed out sweetly, her smile small but soft.

He approached her, his heart beating fast; he was confused but also in awe of how Ladybug wanted to meet him. For a moment, he wanted to thank her for finally accepting him, but remembering that he was not Cat Noir, he had too act like he hadn't seen her as often as he actually did.

"I wasn't expecting to meet you here, how come you wanted to meet me?" He asked out of curiosity as he continued to smile.

Ladybug felt stunned at the question, yet she should have seen it coming. It was definitely suspicious that Ladybug suddenly wanted to meet up with Adrien for no apparent reason. She hoped she did not she as Marinette knew about this, although thinking about it made her head spin a little, so she decided not to jump to conclusions, and instead think of a better idea that was a little risky, but it was worth a try.

"You know Marinette?" She paused for a moment with a small smile. "Well, she's actually a good friend of mine, and told me that you show…um…interest in me?" She stated, sounding unsure of herself.

Adrien widened his eyes, he had no idea Marinette knew Ladybug as a friend and had told Ladybug about his feelings. In a way he was disappointed because he wanted to admit it to her himself, even if she already knew and had declined her many times before. In a way, he hoped to thank Marinette later for telling Ladybug, and possibly even arranging this for him, but he felt like Ladybug would be a bit sneakier than Marinette to put the note on his locker.

Biting his lip, he looked down with a blush before a warm smile appeared as he approached her. "Well…it is a little hard for me to explain why I like you like this…" He said before looking away, hoping he does not accidentally say something that will give away that he's Cat Noir. "I guess it's just that, you're an incredible girl, I've never met someone like you with such determination and confidence, and always being brave to help Paris all the time. You even remind me of Marinette a little." He stated, remembering in that moment when he called Marinette their everyday Ladybug.

Ladybug felt herself lost for words, the person she had been crushing hard on sounded as if he was pouring her heart out to him, it was like a dream come true, but at the back of her mind, she knew she could not indulge in this forever, but for now she was content with what was happening. However, she would not forget that there would have to be a good ending out of this, since she knew it would be hard being with Adrien as Ladybug while Alya could grow suspicious on her disappearing all the time and being very happy for Adrien.

"I'm glad you think of me in that way, because I feel the same about you." She admitted, her head tilted as she pushed her bangs away from her face slightly.

Adrien gasped in surprise, was this his lucky day? Did Ladybug just admit that she was in love with him? Was this why she was rejecting him all the time as Cat Noir, because she liked his secret identity this entire time? Many realisations flooded through his mind, it all made sense. However, one thing was not making much sense to him, and that was how Ladybug could have feelings for him, as they did not see each other that often when he was just himself and not Cat Noir, he worried that she only admired him because of his Agreste label.

"You…you like me?" He asked rhetorically. "You sure you don't just like me because I'm Adrien Agreste, son of Gabriel Agreste, who is a worldwide known fashion designer, and I'm a model too?"

He saw her almost act like Marinette would around him, she jumped at the response, it was almost as if it were true. Adrien breathed a sigh but kept a gentle and warm smile, as whether she liked him for him or liked him the other way. He was still happy she liked him, but he would prefer if she liked him for who he is and not what he is.

Ladybug bit her lip and started to speak nonsense, before clamping her lips shut tight and clearing her throat to calm herself down. "No…it's not just that, you're a very kind person, and amazing, and perfect and…" She stopped herself, realising she was talking as if she was Marinette.

She looked up and saw the confused and slightly disappointed look on Adrien's face; she was beginning to think she blew it, but knew she had to turn things around. "I'm sorry, but Marinette has told me a lot about you, and says you're a kind and helpful friend. I see you almost act like me, always protecting others and fixing the wrongs, I could almost say you're like Cat Noir, but without all those silly puns and constant flirting." She said, sassing at how Cat Noir behaved around her.

Adrien frowned slightly, he hated that she said that about him, but he needed to remember that she did not know who he really was, so he quickly shrugged the frown off. "I guess I am kind of like him, and you did forget to mention that he and I also have one other thing in common, and that is we both have feelings for you." He said, before realising he could be taking his words down a dangerous path that might reveal his secret to her.

He saw nothing but Ladybug's cheeks turn red as she stared at him, a small breath escaped her mouth as to hint at a somewhat gasp in reaction. He smiled lovingly before standing eye to eye with her; he could not help but just smile in awe at how beautiful her eyes were, they seemed to sparkle under the artificial lighting in the room.

Ladybug felt her heart racing, she was so close to him, part of her wanted more, but she could not, she was tempting with fate far too much at this point. It was very hard for her to resist her urge to do what she had always wanted to do; she could see in Adrien's green eyes that he wanted to resist the urge too but was not fighting back hard enough.

"Ladybug…"

"Adrien…"

They both leaned in close; Adrien began to speak, only for his words to be deafened by a loud ape-like scream.

Immediately turning around towards the entrance in response, thunderous quakes shook the ground beneath them and screams of terror echoed in the distance. Both of them immediately thought in disappointment now was not the time for an akuma attack. However, the shouting ape-like sound actually sounded familiar to both of them. They both instantly knew who it was.

Going back to the main area of the Louvre, they both saw the glass pyramid structure that was the walls of the museum were shattered because of the giant gorilla, also known as Adrien's bodyguard. The giant gorilla banged his hands on his chest as he roared in anger; Adrien suspected this was his fault since he snuck out of home without anyone noticing.

"This is my fault." He admitted. "My father must be mad at me for sneaking out just to see you."

Ladybug could not help but feel guilty; this was partially her fault as well, if she had not made Adrien skip out on his piano practice this akuma attack would never have happened.

Her first instinct was to make sure Adrien was safe; she trusted that he would find a safe place to hide, she instructed him to do so and he complied with confidence, knowing that Ladybug always manages to save the day. She smiled at the compliment, before spinning her yoyo ready for action, she hoped Cat Noir would be here any second now, she was actually a little surprised that he wasn't here already since it seemed the destruction had been ongoing for a little while.

So she ran off into a safe corner away from the gorilla and dialled for Cat Noir.

"Hello, Cat Noir, I'm at the Louvre. Hurry, there's an akuma attack!"

Before she could close her yoyo, the cat was right behind her, he greeted her with a bow. "Nice to see you at the scene already M'Lady."

Ladybug silently scoffed at him in response. "I thought you'd be taking care of things by now, I think this guy has been rampaging for a while." She informed.

"I'd be taking care of things? What have you been up to that doesn't involve akuma attacks?" He asked winking and smirking.

He saw the intense blush on her cheeks, part of him just wanted to tell her then and there but he knew now was not the right time, he did wonder to himself after what just happened, when would be the right time to tell her? Seeing her blush and look at her angrily was so adorable to him, how could he not love her?

She began to stutter at her words, definitely feeling like she should not tell him she was just with the love of her life. "Um, well I was patrolling the area, I just did not happen to see the front area yet, you need to remember how big this place is." She reminded sternly, poking him.

Cat Noir sighed lovingly at her. "You know I do like it when you're bossing me around." He flirted, shining a grin at her.

"Just focus on the giant gorilla."

"You got it."

 **I do feel like adding more to that but then I feel like this chapter would never end, anyway apologies on the delay once again, I do want to get this story done in the next month or so. So remember that I promise to finish this and update this regularly.**

 **In addition, I have a lot planned for the next chapter; there is more reason behind why Adrien's bodyguard had gotten akumatised which you'll have to find out in the next chapter. ;)**


	8. Speculating Suspicion

**I do feel like that this should have been uploaded sooner, but with Easter happening I had a lot of family events to go to, plus I've been in more of a drawing mood than writing, despite having many ideas for how this story will end and what will happen over the next several chapters and so on. I do think you guys will like what I have in store for you ;)**

 **So I've decided that 15 chapters will be the most I do, but I'm estimating I'll do around 6-8 more chapters, meaning this story might finish at chapter 13 at earliest, but for now I guess I'll just wait and see how long I drag this story on, I'm pretty sure you guys don't mind that being an issue. ;P**

 **Anyway, onto Chapter 8! ^^**

 **Miraculous Ladybug © Thomas Astruc/ Zagtoon**

 **Chapter 8 – Speculating Suspicion**

Cat Noir was head on with the giant gorilla, while fighting and dodging his attacks he tried to search for the object where the akuma was, Ladybug was trying to do the same but from high above atop the buildings. She noticed that just like last time they fought him, his hand was clenched, indicating that he was holding something. She signalled to her partner to try and open the giant gorilla's fist, he nodded and proceeded to climb up the legs of the gorilla on all fours while Ladybug distracted the gorilla.

After unfortunate events and the work of a lucky charm and cataclysm, the gorilla was turned back to normal. Ladybug noticed that the akumatised object was Adrien's lucky charm, just like last time. It was then she realised that this man was akumatised because of her, if she had not arranged a meet-up with Adrien this would not have happened.

Cat Noir turned to see his lady look very guilt-ridden, he approached her with concern. "Are you alright my lady?" He asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm fine; I just need some time to myself." She replied softly, before swinging out her yoyo towards a nearby building.

With that, she was gone, he wondered what bothered her so much, but he did feel like it had to do with the little meet up he just had with her as Adrien, and his bodyguard only got akumatised because of his father being overprotective. He sighed before heading off into a secluded area to transform back to he could return to his bodyguard.

As soon as he was back home, his father was standing at the foot of the stairs with Nathalie at his side, his arms crossed behind his back, hands clenched in anger, and his expression stiffened the moment he saw his son walk through the front door.

"Where have you been? You should not leave the house without my permission!" He scolded firmly, broadening his shoulders to show who is in charge.

Adrien looked down, a tear slightly developing in one of his eyes. "I'm sorry father; I went out to meet a friend. I should have told you beforehand." He apologised sincerely, looking up at his father, who had not changed his pose or stiffened expression.

Gabriel glared at his son, he had grown curious recently as to how Adrien manages to escape the house without anyone noticing at first, especially his bodyguard who was assigned to keep an eye on him at all times. He had wondered if his son was Cat Noir, especially since he noticed Adrien wore a ring on the exact same finger as the hero, but discovered it was only a mere coincidence.

However, he was starting to question his thoughts again about that possibility. He had always sensed some sort of familiarity with Cat Noir, but part of him thought that must have been Adrien with Cat Noir the last time he akumatised the bodyguard, yet he could not be certain as he never saw Adrien's face through the gorilla's eyes. Gabriel decided to think on it later as it was a very hard suspicion.

"You remember your ground rules; ensure that your bodyguard is with you at all times to any social event or any event that I arrange for you." He informed strictly.

Adrien nodded in reply, a frown very evident on his face. "Yes, father."

With that, he headed off to his room and practiced his piano while his bodyguard stood outside his room, peeking in every few minutes or so, to ensure he did not mysteriously escape again. Adrien wanted to lay on his bed and talk to Plagg about what had just happened between him and Ladybug, and that worried look she gave him before she left, but hearing his door open every so often he didn't have that choice.

Meanwhile Ladybug made her way back home, she de-transformed behind her balcony before hopping on into her room and collapsing on her bed. Tikki spun out of Marinette's small pink bag with a look that made Marinette realise even more how right the kwami was about abusing her powers like this to get with a boy that she liked.

Marinette sighed. "I'm sorry Tikki, I should have seen that coming, I knew Adrien had piano practice and I made his father angry, if Gabriel knew who Ladybug really was he would never let me become a fashion designer." She moaned in sadness, accepting her guilt and the problem she had caused.

The red kwami shook her head with a firm expression. "I don't know if Gabriel would go that far, but then again he does seem like a very strict man. However, that's not what we need to talk about, what we need to talk about is the risks you're taking just to spend more time with Adrien. If you keep doing this, it's only going to get worse." She explained strictly, knowing that this would only bring her more bad luck if she continued.

Burying herself in her pillows and blankets, Marinette groaned in sadness and guilt. "I know, I should stop before this gets any worse, and maybe now Adrien doesn't like Ladybug because she caused the akuma attack." She cried, not looking up at her kwami, feeling embarrassed and guilt-ridden from the situation.

"Maybe so, but don't take all of this too harshly Marinette, it is only one mistake and you can learn from this." Tikki said with an optimistic tone. "Also, maybe instead of using Ladybug to be with Adrien, maybe use Ladybug to show how amazing Marinette is."

Marinette looked up in confusion, worried that her own kwami was suggesting she reveal her identity to Adrien, it didn't sound like something she would say. "Don't tell me you're suggesting I reveal…" She began to say, sounding shocked at the thought of it.

She was cut off by the kwamis gasp. "No! I didn't mean that, I mean try to act more like Ladybug as Marinette, and maybe as Ladybug encourage Adrien to be with Marinette and prove that you and him are meant to be together." She exclaimed with joy, proving that there was another way around all of this.

"You're right Tikki; I'll start doing that first thing at school!" She announced with pride, before backing herself down. "But I do need a little help from a BFF first." She added with a wink and a smirk, holding her phone in her hand.

She unlocked her phone and looked for Alya's name to give her a call. Not long later, she was knee deep in a conversation with her best friend; Marinette almost seemed confused as to how shocked Alya was about her idea.

Alya cleared her throat, which echoed through the phone speaker. "Okay, so you're telling me that you're going to pretend you're Ladybug on this online account of yours and make Adrien realise he's in love with the wrong girl? Are you sure this is a good idea?" She asked, sounding unsure of this plan, as many of Marinette's plans involving Adrien never always seemed to work.

Marinette did have another idea in mind as to 'pretend' to be Ladybug to get Adrien to like Marinette, but she knew she would have to do that in secret. This idea seemed great too; she was already piecing the words together in her head about what she would say next to Adrien on the online site. It was difficult to not mention that she was actually Ladybug, but she had to make it work without him knowing that he was actually talking to both Ladybug and Marinette at the same time.

"I'm sure it will work; besides I could just lie and say that it was really Ladybug he was talking to but maybe she was too shy to see him so she sent me instead." She explained with a smile, but began to question her choice of words.

Alya hummed for a moment, it sounded like she was thinking a bit too much about what Marinette just said. "You know, this almost sounds like you know Ladybug personally, you sound so confident in this working. What if Ladybug knew what you were doing, you're using her identity to be with Adrien?" She asked in suspicion.

Marinette paused for a moment before stuttering every word that fell out of her mouth, she had a feeling that Alya would catch on, and after all, she was responsible for the Lady Blog, which was all about Ladybug and trying to discover who she really was. She did have a feeling she would hit a snag with her plan; she definitely could not tell Alya that she was actually Ladybug, that would be too risky. Marinette knew she had to make some sense of the situation before her best friend got a little too suspicious about her. The last thing she wanted right now was her best friend suspecting she was Ladybug.

She laughed nervously in reply. "I'll be fine; a lot of girls like me pretend to be Ladybug. Besides, he will not ever actually see me, so he will not know for sure that I am actually pretending to be Ladybug."

In realisation, Marinette was feeling like this was starting to take a wrong turn, she would not normally do this, especially with Alya too. It was a little difficult keep her secret identity a secret from everyone, including her best friend, but it was for the best, she did not want her best friend to be captured by Hawkmoth, or have his akumatised victims going after either of them.

"I'm not so sure about this idea girl, but I guess we can give it a try. I just don't think using Ladybug's identity to get to Adrien is the best idea you've had." She said sincerely, but in an apologetic and respectful way.

Marinette had her doubts too, but she had a feeling this would be a much better idea for her, especially since this would be less suspicious than disappearing to see Adrien as Ladybug all the time. She knew Alya would not be too happy with her idea at first, but in time she believed that this idea might just work, she only hoped she could persuade Adrien to like her instead of Ladybug, and she still was curious as to how serious he was about being in love with Ladybug.

It almost felt like Adrien knew Ladybug on a different level, but she did not know how it could be possible, she could only think of Cat Noir loving Ladybug that much, but she knew that Adrien definitely was not Cat Noir; they did not even act the same. She did not ever think of Adrien acting a thing like Cat Noir, it just did not seem like a trait he would have.

After a little more talk with Alya about her idea and how to make it work, Marinette said goodbye to Alya for the day and promised to meet up with her early tomorrow at school so they could start this little plan Marinette had. She only hoped Ladybug did not need to shine anytime soon because the last thing she wanted was to fall asleep too late and miss the little meet up with Alya in the library.

Thankfully, she was in luck, the rest of Marinette's day was uneventful; there were no akuma attacks that she needed to worry about. Instead, for the rest of the night she thought of the many things she could say to Adrien tomorrow, and not just behind a screen but in person too. She knew that she would have to work up the courage to say at least one sentence without stuttering or suddenly lose her footing and falling to the floor.

She went to bed that night with confidence; she had prepared a few small notes for herself for when she would message Adrien later the next day. She did so as to ensure that she would not accidentally reveal her secret identity to him, however a small part of her really did want to tell him who he was really talking to.

Telling Adrien that she was Ladybug could be either the best idea or the worst idea ever; it could mean that they can finally be together since Adrien also liked Marinette all this time. However, it could also mean she could put him in danger because Hawkmoth might discover who she is through these series of events and put Adrien in danger just to get her miraculous.

It definitely was not the idea to be thinking of right now, but she did feel like one day that reveal would have to happen, she just was not sure when. Even if she did convince Adrien to love her as Marinette she would have to tell Adrien at some point that she was actually Ladybug as well, and that might turn out to be a complicated situation.

Lying on her soft pillow, she breathed a sigh. Tomorrow was definitely going to be an interesting day, and although she did not have much trouble hiding her secret identity to everyone, she felt like this idea would put more pressure on her to keep it even more of a secret, because she felt like Alya did not fully trust her idea.

It was not going to be easy, but she knew she would get through it.

 **I tried to extend this one a bit because I didn't want it to be too short, I know you guys would most likely prefer longer than shorter chapters. ;)**

 **So I hope you liked that I made plenty of reference to the last time Adrien's bodyguard was akumatised, but it does seem however that there are several suspicions coming from many people, especially Alya and Gabriel. This may or may not get touched on more in the next few chapters. I hope that I see you all very soon for the next chapter. :)**


	9. Into Action

**I have noticed that I have been adding new stuff into this story that I didn't think I would add, I don't think I'll point out what was not actually meant to be in here but it seems you guys like how it's going so far. I am not sure about a couple of things, some of you (on deviantart) mentioned about a possible reveal, I can't say that there will be one but I can't say there won't be.**

 **Let's just say that I do have plans for the story that you may or may not like. ;)**

 **Anyway enjoy the next chapter of the story, hopefully I can start to wrap this up because I don't want this story any longer than 15 chapters, otherwise I have no idea when it'll end…**

 **Miraculous Ladybug © Thomas Astruc/ Zagtoon**

 **Chapter 9 – Into Action**

Waking up to her second alarm, Marinette climbed slowly out of bed, her eyes heavy from just waking up and her legs still weakened from not being used for a good several hours. She held onto the side railing as she went downstairs for breakfast. She could see her father was already opening up the bakery while her mother was preparing some breakfast for herself.

Marinette proceeded to make her own, when she heard something unexpected from her mother.

"You know, that young boy Adrien came in the other day and bought a special cupcake. I was wondering if he had bought it for you." She said with a smirk as she prepared her bowl for breakfast.

Clenching her teeth in surprise, she paused for a moment. Why would her mother think he bought it for her? She knew that he bought it for Ladybug, maybe the cupcake beared some resemblance to Marinette in some way. She was beginning to think she was over thinking this; it was most likely because her parents knew she was crushing hard on him.

She stuttered a little in nervousness, trying to think of a good lie to cover up what really happened, because then she would have more explaining to do and it would just get too complicated to explain the whole situation to her. "Oh, no it wasn't for me mum; he got it for Chloe because it was her half a year birthday…" She moaned, to sound annoyed.

Sabine looked stunned and mildly confused as she paused for a moment to look at her daughter. "Strange how Chloe does whatever she can to get attention." She ended with a chuckle.

Marinette smiled sheepishly before she continued to prepare her breakfast.

Not long later, she was at school in the library, and surprisingly waiting for Alya. She did not expect her best friend to be later than she was, but she did suspect it either had something to do with Nino or her sisters. Marinette began to grow worried, but the moment she started to feel even the slightest of worry she heard running footsteps towards her and then saw Alya run into the library.

She was panting as she approached Marinette who was waiting by one of the computers. "I'm sorry girl, I had to get my sisters ready this morning, and no one else was home." She explained in a breathy tone, still recovering from her running.

Marinette giggled in response. "It's alright Alya; I know your sisters can be a bit of a handful."

"Especially when they're pretending to be the Sapotis again…" She groaned, an annoyed frown evident on her face. "Now, how about we start pretending we're someone we're not and talk to Adrien? Or at least send him a message since he's probably on his way to school right about now, right Marinette?" She asked with a wink and a smirk.

There was a small tint of red on Marinette's cheeks as she sat down and smiled nervously.

She logged into her online account in which she would message Adrien, but this time she would pretend that she was Ladybug. Marinette did find it a little silly to think that she was pretending since she actually was Ladybug, but that did cause her to think about deciding if this plan worked or not and whether if it did would she eventually have to tell Adrien that she was actually Ladybug. It caused a small look of concern, which thankfully Ayla did not notice as her best friend peered at the screen.

"I'd say just leave a message for him that will make him interested in talking to you, nothing too serious or urgent. So don't be overdramatic." She warned, poking a finger into Marinette's shoulder.

With a giggle and a nod, she proceeded to write a message to Adrien.

" _Hey it's me again, actually I should tell you it's Ladybug, not Marinette."_

Alya judged the sentence thoroughly, humming at the wording and wondering if it was the right thing to say. Marinette felt her heart pound in worry; she worried was it too much to say? On the other hand, was it not the right thing to start with? She thought.

Not a moment later, the bell signalled for first class, the two girls looked back towards the doorway in response before looking back at the screen. Alya shrugged with a sigh.

"I guess that'll have to do, can't think of anything else this very second. Go ahead and send it so we can get to class." She insisted as Alya proceeded to the door.

As they both headed off to the locker room for their books, Marinette caught a glimpse of Adrien walking into the school entrance, with a Chloe attached to his arm. She could sense the discomfort in his expression, it made her sigh in relief somewhat because she realised that Adrien never liked Chloe in that way all this time. All Chloe and Adrien had been were friends, even if the friendship part was mainly on Adrien's side.

Knowing that Adrien liked Ladybug sent much relief over her, she worried that he actually liked Chloe, or Lila, or even Kagami, who seemed to bear a lot of resemblance to Ladybug. However, she still could not understand the feelings he had for her as Ladybug, she knew many people admired what she did, but she did not think she would have someone in love with her as much as Adrien did. Maybe she was over thinking it and maybe it was admiration, or was there something else she was missing?

She decided not to think too much about it as Alya caught her out of focus with her conversation about her sisters, she knew whom she was staring at, and she smiled in the thought of it as she nudged her unfocused friend. Then they both noticed after Chloe had wondered over to Sabrina that Adrien had looked at his phone briefly. He stopped for a moment, his expression was in deep shock, but before he could respond to what he saw, Nino had shown up to greet him.

Marinette gasped with excitement and nervousness. "I think he saw the message!" She squealed, her hands clenched near her mouth.

A little while later during their first break, Marinette could not believe that Adrien was approaching her, yet she should have seen it coming. Alya gave her a push towards him before saying goodbye to leave the two alone. The dark haired teen felt her heart beating out of her chest; she was beginning to think that sending that message was a terrible mistake. What if Adrien didn't believe the text? What if he discovered that she really was Ladybug? A million questions overloaded her brain; she panted heavily but managed to hide most of that emotion as Adrien was only a mere metre away.

"Hey Marinette." He greeted with a smile, his phone evident in one of his hands.

She gulped, unable to respond, she knew exactly why he was talking to her. Her lips were clamped shut; she did not know what to tell him about the message. Forcing her lips to spread open, she mumbled a greeting in response.

"Hi Adrien…" She replied, seeing Adrien leaned in closer to hear the words, knowing she was talking very quietly.

Adrien showed a confused expression for a moment, before looking towards his phone and bringing it closer to his eye level. "Well, I was just wondering if you sent me this message this morning?" he asked in a slightly suspicious tone. "You know if this was you, I don't think you should be pretending to be Ladybug…" He continued, but stopped there, an apologetic look on his face as he saw her widened eyes in reaction.

Marinette felt her whole world collapse in that moment, how did he know she was pretending? If he thought that about her he would never like her then, then he would think of her as another Lila, who lied about herself just to get to others. She felt the tears swell up in her eyes, but seeing the concerned look on Adrien's face as he sat by her side, she needed to remain content about the situation.

"Well actually…I should tell you that…" she began, trying to piece a perfect excuse in her head. "Ladybug actually sent me that day because she was a little nervous." She answered, feeling like that might not have been the best answer, but it was the quickest thing she could think of that did not blow her secret identity.

Recalling back to the meet-up, Adrien did recall Ladybug mentioning Marinette speak of him to her, perhaps she was right. However at the same time he still had his suspicions, he never knew Ladybug to be a nervous type, she always seemed so confident in what she does. Maybe it was different when it came to a relationship, he thought.

He nodded in thought to Marinette's words. "I guess that does make a little sense, she did mention you when I talked to her in person, and I didn't even see Ladybug put that note on my locker. However Kagami did say she spotted someone with dark hair sneaking into the locker room and sneaking out a minute later." He joked with a smirk.

Marinette felt as if she had just lost all sense of balance, her body began to lean away from Adrien and towards the edge of the seat; she flared her arms momentarily before gaining her balance back with Adrien holding onto one of her arms.

"Careful, don't lose yourself Marinette." He assured her calmly with a gentle smile. "It's okay that you did that for her. I don't think Ladybug would have been able to give me that note if she just came as herself." Adrien added with a chuckle, knowing that Ladybug would just attract attention unwillingly.

Feeling like she was an emotionless robot, she forced out a nervous laugh with her hand slightly covering her mouth. "Yes, I guess that would be a bit of a problem."

"Well, I guess I just thought since you had shown up that day and even said it was you I just assumed that it was you talking to me. But after seeing that message from this morning, I think I understand why you showed up instead of her." He explained as he relaxed himself a little.

Adrien left moments later; Marinette had a moment to herself as she saw Alya still talking to Nino. She calmed herself and smiled softly, relieved that Adrien did not suspect she was Ladybug at all.

Meanwhile, Alya was having an in-depth conversation with Nino, speculating that Marinette may be hiding something. It seemed suspicious to her that Marinette was confident in using Ladybug's identity to get to Adrien, it just did not seem right at all, it also did not sound like something Marinette would do, almost sounded like something Lila or Chloe would do to get Adrien's attention.

"I just don't get it, Ladybug is the hero of Paris, I'm pretty sure if Ladybug knew about what Marinette was doing she would put an end to it right away." Alya explained, peeking over to her best friend, who was calm and content.

Nino scratched his head in thought, understanding how this could be a bit strange for Marinette to do, especially since Marinette respects Ladybug and sometimes even acts just like her. "Maybe next time you run into Ladybug you tell her what Marinette is doing. She should stop it right away, and if she doesn't, then something is definitely up."

Alya nodded in reply, before waving goodbye as she saw Adrien approaching and went back to spend time with Marinette.

Right after lunch break, there was echoes of screaming from the library. Everyone was in a worry and panic as to what was going on. Not long later, the principal came in barging in the science class.

"It's an akuma attack, everyone stay here while Ladybug and Cat Noir defeat the villain!" He instructed in a raised tone.

Adrien and Marinette knew that they were both needed and needed a way to escape the room, but before long an opportunity arose. A flood of the villains victims were running towards the exit outside, and some of the class mats panicked and began to rush out the door. Without notice, Adrien and Marinette slipped out and headed for the bathroom to transform.

Midway through the akuma attack, Ladybug was up on the higher ground dodging the akumatised victim's ranged attacks, while Cat Noir was on the low ground in hand to hand combat with them. Suddenly, Ladybug was pulled away momentarily by a person's arm, she shrieked in panic and worried that Hawkmoth had akumatised two people, but was relieved when she turned around to see Alya.

"Oh hello there, I'm sorry I cannot talk to you right now, I'm in the middle of a fight." She informed, a serious expression evident.

"I know, but I just need to tell you something. My best friend Marinette is pretending to be you to get to a guy named Adrien. I think you should tell her to not use your identity to get to a guy." Alya said in a very strict and serious tone, a hand placed on Ladybug's shoulder.

In that moment, Ladybug lost all train of thought. Alya was onto her.

 **Well then that was definitely a shock right at the end; I told you I'd include Alya and Nino more. ;)**

 **I do plan to add them in more in these upcoming chapters right until the end, because they are important to the story, since they both actually made all this happen in the first place. Anyways, looks like Alya might actually be using her mind for once to piece out how Ladybug and Marinette are connected, or what Marinette is really up to.**

 **Find out Ladybug's response in the next chapter! ^^**


	10. A Wrong Turn

**I might try and wrap this up within the next few chapters, it's not that I want to get this story over and done with (well, in a way I do, but not in a rushed or annoyed way), it's just that I do lose ideas for this story, plus I would like to make more Ladybug stories (especially with a different couple in mind…sort of…). Plus this one is a bit old, and should've been completed ages ago.**

 **However, I won't rush things for the sake of the limited chapters I have left, I do plan to answer the questions you guys have answered (maybe not all of them, but at least tie the bigger loose ends) before this story comes to a close.**

 **Enjoy Chapter 10 of Love Behind a Screen. :D**

 **Miraculous Ladybug © Thomas Astruc/ Zagtoon**

 **Chapter 10 – A Wrong Turn**

Ladybug was lost for words; literally, she knew she had to say something quick otherwise; Alya would only get more suspicious. She only thought of how could Alya not trust her words as Marinette? However, at the same time she should have seen this coming, she knew there was a flaw with her new plan. Acting quickly with her thoughts as she looked down towards the fight between the librarian super villain and Cat Noir, she knew she had to cover herself up otherwise Alya would only stop her with even more questions that demanded answers.

"I know it's not the best thing to do, but she told me she was struggling with this boy and I am allowing her to use my identity temporarily. I even met up with the boy and talked all about Marinette to support her." She explained, suddenly feeling a slight pain in her words when she looked at Cat Noir again, realising that she was suffering through the same pain at Cat Noir was.

In a way, she should have realised it a long time ago, but just never paid much attention to Cat Noir's feelings. He's been trying to pursue her for a very long time, and still no luck. At the same time, she openly rejected him because she told him she was in love with someone else. Adrien never actually rejected her, he actually rejected her in a more friendly, not straightforward way which was always telling her how much of a great friend she was.

Which reminded her again about Cat Noir, they shared the same problem, and she began to empathise with Cat Noir in that moment, her expression saddened before Alya's words struck her out of her thoughts.

"Are you going to let Marinette keep doing this? It's not the right way to do this; she should be going after him as herself, not as you." She insisted.

A part of Ladybug just wanted to tell her now that she was Marinette, it would make this situation all so much easier, but she knew she could not. With a sigh, she gently pushed Alya aside and assured her that for now it was the right thing to do until the time was right. In a way, she was right, when the time was right she knew she would have to come clean, or at least confess to Alya as Marinette that she was wrong about using another's identity to pursue someone.

Shaking off that thought, she rushed down to help Cat Noir with the akumatised victim.

"Her powers make us muted, so we better not get touched by her glasses." He informed with a warning as he spun his baton to dodge the said attack.

Ladybug looked towards the glasses and gasped in realisation, though was a little disappointed that Cat Noir didn't figure that out yet, or he just liked hearing her say where the akuma was. "Of course, the akuma is in her glasses." She stated with optimism.

She summoned her lucky charm, which was actually a magnifying glass. Her ladybug sight saw that she needed Cat Noir's baton for the job and her own yoyo. Ladybug signalled to Cat Noir to be ready to extend his baton to the sky while she used her yoyo to tie the villain around the basketball hoop pole. She signalled in that moment, and with that Cat Noir extended his baton until the magnifying glass was parallel with the sunlight and the villain's glasses, ultimately blinding the victim. She covered her eyes in pain before Cat Noir flew down with his cataclysm ready and destroyed the glasses, revealing the hidden akuma.

After repairing the damage and cleansing the akuma, Cat Noir and Ladybug gave each other a fist bump before Cat Noir slowly started to head off, not long before Ladybug grabbed his hand, stunning him a little.

"Cat Noir, I just need to tell you something…" She said almost shyly, looking down at the ground as she let go of his hand.

"What is it M'Lady?" He asked softly, his arms approaching her face to caress, but stopped halfway, knowing his boundaries.

She breathed a deep sigh, remembering her thoughts from what she told Alya moments ago. "I know I told you that I'm in love with someone else, and I realise now that I really do understand the pain you're going through." She admitted, the truthfulness in her expression as she looked at him straight in the eye, informing him that she was really serious about what she was saying.

Cat Noir was lost for words, how could she understand the pain of being rejected so much. "What do you mean, I'm sorry but I don't fully understand…" He admitted, wanting more information.

"As you're wanting to be with me, I'm wanting to be with someone else, and we're both struggling to be with the one we want. I almost feel like it's an endless loop somehow."

Silence fell between the two, not long before a beeping sound came from Ladybug's earrings, warning her that she was merely minutes away from turning back to normal again.

Cat Noir knew that Ladybug was in love with him, but how could he show that as Adrien? He felt more like himself when he was Cat Noir, maybe if he acted more like Cat Noir as Adrien around Ladybug maybe it would help? He thought to himself for a moment. Another though occurred to him, he debated whether or not he should tell her he knows who she's in love with, but knew in that moment that saying that might reveal his secret identity.

He was beginning to feel like maybe that was the best option at this point, he knew she loved Adrien, so why would she not love him as Cat Noir when she found out they were one and the same? It was a lot to think about, and in that moment he could tell Ladybug was waiting for a response from him.

Taking a deep breath, he took her hand gently. "It might be, but I am willing to help you be with this guy, because all I want is for you to be happy, and if that's with someone else that's okay. I'll always be your friend Ladybug." He said sincerely, kissing her hand gently before taking off suddenly.

Ladybug's cheeks were redder than the red on her outfit, what he just said to he sounded so genuine and kind-hearted, was he really willing to give up his chances with her just so she could be happy? It made her realise just how important she was to him, and how supportive of a friend he was.

"Thank you." She whispered in reply, knowing Cat Noir would not hear her.

Another beep from her earrings ruined the moment, she quickly panicked and headed for the girls locker room. Knowing that the building would have been evacuated she decided that transforming back to normal there was no risk.

Landing in one of the stalls for safety, not noticing that another stall nearby was closed also; she transformed back to normal, and ran out the door, her phone in hand, as she started to dial Alya's number.

In that bathroom stall, a phone rang, the door was slightly open from the response of someone running in and then running out again. On the other end of the phone was Marinette's voice.

"Hey Alya, where are you? I hid out in one of the bathroom stalls during the attack, are you okay?" She asked in a hurry.

"I'm okay." Alya stated, emotions leaving her words in that moment. "I'll meet you out the front of the school in a moment." She added, before hanging up on her.

What did Alya just see? Ladybug running into the bathroom, hearing her say 'spots off' and then running out the door as Marinette. In that moment, she had suddenly lost herself, her thoughts were scattered, her mind exploding in realisation that it all made sense now.

In the end, she decided to wait until the right moment to tell her, and decided to not act suspicious to her anymore, or question why she was using Ladybug's identity. It made so much sense now, she was only using her secret identity as Ladybug to be with Adrien, and how could she not have pieced that together sooner?

Walking out the bathroom and into the locker room, she walked out the front to see Marinette waiting at the stairs, looking down the street, presumably looking for her. She decided to just lie about where she was instead of trying to hide the fact that she was in the school, she would tell Marinette about her secret later, it was just right now was not the time for that.

Marinette turned and saw Alya with a small smile as she quickly walked down the stairs towards her. "Oh I'm glad to see you're okay. I got muted so I just ran and hid, and waited for the superheroes to save the day." She explained with a widened and slightly nervous smile.

Alya chuckled in response as she placed a hand on Marinette's shoulder. "Girl, you need to be more careful where you go during an akuma attack. It seems that a lot of the time you're around the super villain." She vaguely hinted, wanting to at least drop that one before keeping her lips sealed about what she discovered.

"I guess I'm just clumsy that's all." Marinette admitted as she shrugged her shoulders.

So, for the rest of the afternoon, the girls spent their time catching up on homework at Marinette's place, while Alya also got a nice bakery lesson from Marinette's father on how to perfect macaroons. Even though her mother was a chef, she didn't have that soft spot for baking like Marinette's family did.

Meanwhile, Adrien was flipping the pages of his school books to write down some notes. His kwami was lying on his bed stuffing himself with some more camembert while laying on one of his dirty socks pulled from the laundry basket. After stuffing himself a little more, Plagg decided it was best to review what happened earlier on with Ladybug.

"So since Ladybug is in love with you why don't you just go tell her you love her?" He asked in a teasing way.

Adrien sighed, lowering his eyebrows at Plagg's lack of respect. "Look Plagg, I've told you many times. She rejects me as Cat Noir, but she doesn't reject me as Adrien." He stated in a slightly annoyed tone. "I need to figure out a way to make her see that she's in love with Cat Noir too, and I feel like the only way is to start acting like Cat Noir around her as myself and I think eventually…I should reveal who I really am."

The kwami almost chocked on his mouthful of cheese. "You're going to tell her who you are!?" He cried. "But she said you two need to keep your identities a secret!" He exclaimed.

"We both love each other, she just doesn't realise that she loves the person that she is also rejecting, and I just need to make her see that." He replied with a smile of hope.

Then, a beep on his computer signified an incoming message, he saw that it was Marinette again, or presumably Ladybug. He didn't know what to think of that message, had he been set up by Ladybug to be with Marinette, or was Marinette pretending to be Ladybug? He wondered, either way he wasn't pleased with either outcome. However, he was surprised with a different outcome.

" _It's me Ladybug again, I know I may have shocked you about what I said this morning, but trust me I am telling the truth. I sent Marinette that day only because I was too busy myself and I didn't want to disappoint you. I hope you can forgive me and we can still meet up again?"_

"She wants to see me again?" He asked aloud, only to have Plagg openly comment sarcastically.

"Looks like your special someone is asking you out on a date." He mocked, floating next to Adrien's head.

He thought for a moment, he knew Ladybug better than anyone else and these words did indeed sound a lot like her, they only seemed less rejecting towards him, but that was only because she was talking to Adrien and not Cat Noir. Adrien smiled at the thought, it would be nice to meet up with Ladybug again.

This was perhaps the perfect opportunity to start acting like Cat Noir towards her, and maybe then she'll realise she is in love with the same person.

" _I'd love to meet up with you again. The Louvre again, or somewhere different?"_

He waited a moment for her response, and then saw her begin to type.

" _It'll be on a rooftop, I'll take you there tomorrow at sunset. Leave your window open so I can get to you."_

A heavy blush was evident on his cheeks, was she going to replicate his romantic dinner scene for him? It sounded almost too good to be true. His eyes sparkled for a moment, before he realised he was leaving Ladybug waiting for a response.

" _Don't worry, it'll be open. I can't wait."_

 **Well that was a bit of a longer chapter, I feel like I should make these a bit longer now because I am nearing the end of the story so it's probably best to lengthen them. Anyway, I tied myself a bit there at the end but don't worry I have huge plans for the upcoming chapters, I've already dropped a bomb this chapter, just you wait, more bombshells to come! :D**


	11. Sworn Secrecy

**Well now, I did like how the last chapter ended, but I am worried I'm extending the story a bit more from what was originally planned, or am I shortening it? Hmm…. Anyways, now that Alya knows of Marinette's secret, what do you think she'll do? You'd have to just keep on reading to find out.**

 **Also, what about Nino? He's included in the story's description. I'll be sure to include him more in these last chapters, maybe he'll see something he shouldn't see, or be told a secret by someone? Wait, I think I'm telling you guys too much…**

 **Just read the chapter and you'll find out what happens next, enjoy!**

 **Miraculous Ladybug © Thomas Astruc/ Zagtoon**

 **Chapter 11 – Sworn Secrecy**

The next day at school just felt like a drag for both of them, Marinette knew this evening was going to be difficult to tackle; she was debating whether she should show up as Ladybug or Marinette after what she had told Adrien online the previous day. Adrien on the other hand, was excited and beaming with happiness, and it was difficult to hide from Nino.

During their second period, Nino could see Adrien drawing on his pages, the first thing he noticed was that Adrien did not possess drawing skills as compared to Marinette's for example, and then he saw red heart and black spots. He eyed his friend with mild suspicion, he seemed to be in a trance because even as Nino moved closer to him to get his attention, Adrien's focus never changed, and that was until he spoke up.

"Adrien, are you okay dude?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

Adrien saw how exposed his drawing was an immediately covered it up with some papers in a mild state of panic, his cheeks flushed red for a second as Adrien flipped the pages of his book to focus on his class work. "What? Yeah, I'm fine Nino, don't worry." He assured his best friend, his green eyes darting to his work.

Eager to ask more questions to his best friend, he opened his mouth but was stopped immediately by Alya poking his shoulder from behind. He saw the serious expression on her face, and then she made some gestures implying that they both needed to talk after class about what was going on. Therefore, Nino stayed quiet for the remainder of class, still glancing over at Adrien every now and then, to see a dreamy look on his face. He knew something was going on, he assumed it had something to do with Ladybug as was evident with the red and black hearts he drew.

Marinette on the other hand, was mentally at a fork in the road, she knew she could not use her secret identity to get to be with Adrien without him knowing who she truly was, but she knew revealing her secret identity could be harmful to him, and Hawkmoth could use that against her to get what he wants. She wanted to ask Tikki about it, but the only thing her kwami told her was that she had to be the one to make that decision.

She knew Adrien would be very confused as to why Ladybug did not show up at a meet up place again, and she had to get him from his place as Ladybug. There was no way she would be allowed to take Adrien somewhere as Marinette, she did not want to have a negative impact on Adrien's father by taking him outside when he was not allowed. It had to be Ladybug that he would see, but how would she rope her true identity into this? It almost seemed impossible without revealing who she really was to him.

It was a difficult decision, but Tikki knew that Marinette would make the right choice in the end.

Soon it was lunch break; Marinette began to pack up her things into her bag, and noticed that Alya was not packing up just yet. Adrien saw the same with Nino but did not think too much of it as he prepared to leave the room. Both Alya and Nino informed their friends that they would not be too far behind, and stayed behind, waiting for everyone to leave.

As soon as the teacher and the rest of the students left, Alya sat down in Adrien's seat next to Nino with her books mostly packed away except for her small notebook. All Nino wanted to do in that moment was ask questions, but before he could even breathe a sound of his own voice, Alya's finger was gently placed on his lips as she frantically looked through her notes.

"Listen we need to talk about Adrien and Marinette, I feel like they might be hiding something."

Shocked and lost for words at what Alya just said, he questioned why she would seem so suspicious of Adrien and Marinette all of a sudden. "But Alya, why the sudden suspicion? I will admit Adrien seemed all dreamy earlier but I guess that's because he really likes Ladybug?" He assumed with an unsure shrug.

Alya sighed, before writing down some notes. "Listen, I just have some theories behind this."

"Behind what? Are you okay, I don't think I've seen you this eager to finding out stuff about your own friends before." He informed, never recalling Alya being this eager to find something out, unless it was the secret identity of Ladybug. "This does remind me of when you thought Chloe was Ladybug"

In that moment, she was caught off guard, her pen accidently drawing a straight line down the page of her notebook in response, remembering that she now knew who Ladybug was, and she knew she couldn't hide her shocked expression in that moment. Nino shuffled closer to her with raised suspicion.

"Um, are you alright Alya?" He asked. "You seemed shocked about me bringing up Ladybug."

She found herself in conflict of whether to actually tell Nino about Ladybug being Marinette or not telling him at all. Alya wanted to tell Marinette first since she did discover on accident that she was Ladybug, so it only seemed fair to tell her first. Fiddling with her thoughts, it seemed more logical to her that she should tell Nino, she knew she could trust him with this secret, and as much as she wanted to tell Marinette first, maybe telling Nino right now was the best option.

Going with her gut, she spat out the truth."Marinette is Ladybug."

"What!?" Nino yelled, his body in a state of shock, he felt frozen in place from the sudden words from Alya, he had no idea what to say, but could tell in Alya's eyes that she was not lying.

For a solid minute, Alya did not once glance at Nino as he tried to process the entire situation, he rested his head in his hands, eyes closed as he let the realisation and memories flood his mind of Marinette and Ladybug, making that connection that they are one and the same. It started to make sense to him, but then he came to the realisation that since Adrien was in love with Ladybug, he was actually in love with Marinette too, and that Marinette had not been getting any luck to be with Adrien since he was in love with her behind a mask.

It felt like a rush to his head, feeling the ache of this new sudden information flooding his mind. Eventually he managed to break his silence by expressing his thoughts to Alya about this.

"So this means Adrien actually does like Marinette?" He asked in confirmation.

Alya nodded, her eyebrows lowered in seriousness before turning back to her notes. "It even makes more sense as to why she would use Ladybug's identity to be with Adrien, since she was actually Ladybug herself." She explained, writing down a few more notes.

Nino leaned over and saw what Alya was writing, it was a list of all the reasons why Marinette would pretend to be Ladybug and a list of the obvious signs she didn't realise actually confirmed Marinette being Ladybug. However, he also saw a single sentence including Adrien's name, he grew wide-eyed at the thought.

"So that's why you think Adrien actually likes Ladybug?" He asked, seeming confused as to why Alya would jump to that conclusion. "But, there's not much to go on if Adrien is Cat Noir, and if you think about it they don't act or look much alike besides the hair and green eyes." He pointed out, gesturing to his eyes and hair while explaining. "Adrien doesn't seem that open to be him in my opinion."

Sighing in thought, Alya leaned back slightly against the back of the seat. "I know, it is a wild guess if you ask me, but his feelings just seem so genuine that he must see her often. Another thing is that he does tend to disappear almost the same amount of times as Marinette does, but this could just be another coincidence. It could be that his bodyguard called him to protect him or something like that."

He couldn't help but scratch his head in worry. "You're not counting on it though right? I mean, I have met his father; this could just be a coincidence. Half the time he's unable to come to parties and other events because of his tight schedule and his strict father." Nino explained, a look of seriousness on his face.

Alya closed her book. "You're probably right." She replied, before turning to Nino. "But you need to promise to not tell anyone, especially Adrien that I told you all this. I only mildly suspect Adrien to be Cat Noir, but I know Marinette is Ladybug, and that you cannot tell anyone." Alya said, her eyes glaring at Nino, ensuring that she was dead serious about swearing to secrecy.

"Okay I promise, I won't tell him." He assured, his hands gesturing in assurance. "But, what about Marinette? You're going to tell her soon aren't you?"

"I will, just not right now."

Moments later, they both left the classroom and towards the locker room. They had sat behind a good ten minutes and break was nearly over. Marinette had been with Juleka and Rose the entire time while Adrien was off talking to Max about an online game. Alya and Nino glanced at each other and nodded in agreement to the secret before they parted ways to their best friends.

After school, Marinette seemed to be happier than she usually was; she was packing her bag while Alya stared at her long enough to catch Marinette's eyes as her gleaming smile turned to worry. "Are you okay Alya? Is something wrong?" She asked in concern and worry.

Alya was caught out of her stare; she shook her head then exposed a sheepish grin. "Don't worry Marinette, I just thought I saw little ladybug on you." She said with a smirk, holding her hands at her waist.

Marinette opened her mouth slightly, her eyes widened at the thought, she recalled ladybugs being a sign of good luck. Was she going to have good luck at the dinner date tonight? She smiled with hope and pride. "Ladybugs are a sign of good luck, and I'll need that tonight." She said as she zipped up his bag.

"So, meeting up with Adrien again hmm?" She winked, folding her arms.

She nodded in reply. "I arranged for Ladybug to meet with him on top of a rooftop at sunset, but what Adrien doesn't realise is that he'll be meeting with me. Then, I'm going to try and convince him that I can be his Ladybug, since I think you've noticed I do tend to act like her sometimes…well… minus me being a clumsy one every few minutes around Adrien…" She admitted, giggling in thought.

"Well, good luck with that girl. Just remember not to keep using Ladybug as a way to see him, he might figure out sooner or later that you're using someone else just to see him more often, that's not a Ladybug thing to do." She lectured, poking a finger into Marinette's shoulders as she winked.

Marinette chuckled in reply. "Don't worry, I'm hoping tonight that things can finally start between me and him, and I might be taking a bold risk too, so if you did happen to see a little ladybug flying around on me, I'd rather that be true, since I'll need that luck tonight."

Not long later, they had waved goodbye to each other, and shortly after Marinette left for home, Alya spotted Nino waving goodbye to Adrien as he left with his bodyguard in the car on his way home. She grabbed him by the arm and sat down at a nearby bench.

"What is it now?" He asked.

She whipped out her notepad, writing down what Marinette had just told her about a special dinner between her and Adrien on a rooftop. Nino examined the words on the notepad carefully as Alya continued to write at a fast pace before suddenly stopping and looking up at him.

"So, looks like Adrien is going to be a little occupied tonight by Marinette pretending to be Ladybug again. Even though she's pretending to be herself as Ladybug, I still find it wrong to abuse her secret identity like that." She informed, an expression of annoyance evident on her face.

Nino looked away for a moment in thought, was beginning to think Alya was losing her mind with all of this. "Okay, what do you want me to do about it?"

Alya looked up with a small smile. "I want you to help me find this rooftop at around sunset; I don't know how she's going to set it up but just expect to see a dinner setup on a rooftop somewhere."

"But that could be anywhere!" He cried, his arms open wide in exaggeration. "Do you expect me to scout the entirety of Paris's rooftops just to find a dinner setup? Even if I was Carapace I wouldn't be able to find it in time." He explained, as he showed off a concerned look.

He saw the confident smile on her face, as she did not respond to him for a moment, before Alya turned the pages of her notebook. "Wrong." She said, before holding up her book and pointing to an image she drew. "It's near the key bridge."

 **Hmm, do you think I'm making Alya a little too mad on finding out if her suspicions about Cat Noir are true? I am trying to wrap this up so I don't end up making this story a lengthy 20+ chapters or so, I'd rather have this story done by or at the very most Chapter 15.**

 **Do let me know if I am making Alya a bit out of character, and if so I'll try to give reasoning behind her out of character nature in these last few chapters. Anyway, I'm looking forward to writing the next chapter, so I'll see you all again soon. :)**


	12. Opening Eyes

**I think it's best to wrap up this story in the next two chapters, I feel like if I keep delaying the ending this story is going to be longer than I wanted, and I really want to wrap up this story so that I'm able to make more without this lingering in the background.**

 **Also, to make up for the fact that this story should have been finished last year, I hope to make a sequel out of this story. However, that isn't the only reason, since I have left a detail in this story very recognised by some of you, I unfortunately won't have enough time to flush it out towards the story's end without extending it several more chapters.**

 **When the story ends I will make mention of the plot point missed in this story, as I did not intend it originally, but since it has gained popularity I hope to bring a sequel of it if you are all interested.**

 **Miraculous Ladybug © Thomas Astruc/ Zagtoon**

 **Chapter 12 – Opening Eyes**

The sun was nearing the horizon, everyone was eager to await the following events, especially Adrien and Marinette. Marinette has wasted no time preparing a small thoughtful meal for her and Adrien to enjoy; her heart was racing at the thought of what would happen very soon. She would be staring into Adrien's emerald sparkling eyes as he looked back at her lovingly, it almost felt like a dream, but it also felt terrifying.

Meanwhile, Adrien was practicing piano when he heard a knock at the door. Looking at the time, he knew it was time for his dinner, which awaited him in the dining room alone, without his father once again. He sighed as he walked with Nathalie towards the dining room and observed his meal as he sat down, he hoped that Ladybug had prepared something good for them, and he knew she would show up too, it made him smile slightly as he ate what seemed to be an inch of food on his large glistening plate.

Finishing up, he headed to his room. Nathalie briefed him on his schedule for the rest of the evening before briefing him about the next morning as well; his bodyguard escorted him to his room for the remainder of the day. The rest of his schedule for today was to work on his schoolwork, as well as his fencing stances and Chinese phrases. Adrien felt relieved that he would be left alone for the rest of the day, knowing that he would be able to see Ladybug without any suspicion.

Plagg flew out from his coat, diving for his cupboard of delectable camembert, opening the cupboard brought out the horrible stench of the foul cheese, causing Adrien to immediately gag the moment the smell reached his nostrils.

"Do you really have to eat that now? Ladybug is coming soon and I don't want to smell like stinky cheese…" He exclaimed, clamping his nose shut at the stench of the cheese.

The kwami scoffed at his owner. "If only you knew the beauty of camembert, it's so rich, so creamy, and so smelly…" Plagg said as he was caught in a daze, before gobbling up another thick slice of the cheese.

Adrien rolled his eyes before he opened up his window and continued to practice his piano, waiting for Ladybug to leap through that window at any given moment. He knew he would be seeing her very soon, and his heart was racing at the very thought of it.

Transformed, Ladybug had finally set the last preparations for the night, in a safe hiding place she briefly transformed back into Marinette to talk to Tikki.

"I'm just not sure if I should…what if he hates me for what I say?" Marinette said in worry, her lips trembling slightly.

Tikki gleamed with a smile of hope. "Just trust yourself Marinette, you'll do what you think is right."

She nodded in return, confident that she'll make the right choice tonight, her heart was beating out of her chest, she couldn't believe what she was about to do, but she hoped that nothing terrible came of it, at least not for Adrien but for her if there was anything negative that were to happen tonight.

Transforming back, she headed off to Adrien's place; not noticing that nearby her best friend was watching her leap from roof to roof from her balcony, with Nino by her side.

"I do think this is a bit extreme for you, we should let them have their night together. I mean, especially if Marinette is Ladybug like you said, and then this should be perfect for them." Nino explained.

Alya almost scoffed at him, putting her hand slightly over his. "Of course we're going to leave them alone, but I just want to confirm my suspicion if Adrien is Cat Noir, that might give us more answers."

"More answers to what?" He asked in curiosity.

She sighed, feeling like this boy was clueless to her ideas. "What I mean is that it makes more sense why I always see Ladybug rejecting Cat Noir and Adrien rejecting Marinette all the time. Also not just that, but they do tend to be absent a lot of the time during an akuma attack." She stated, before looking down in thought. "I know it's a big suspicion but it does happen a lot, and if I am wrong about Adrien then I know he was just out of the picture because his father wants to keep him safe." She explained with sincerity, knowing how secretive and protective Gabriel Agreste can be.

They looked up again to see Ladybug off in the distance, heading towards the direction of the Agreste mansion. Alya looked back towards where Ladybug came from and could see a light on a rooftop slightly obscured by several buildings in front. She suspected that is where they were going to be, she grabbed Nino's hand and pulled him inside for a brief moment.

"Let's go to your house, we'll have a better view."

Nino grew confused; he scratched the back of his head in the moment. "But, I thought we wanted to give them privacy."

"We do, for now, but I just want to confirm it when or if it happens." She insisted, before grabbing her bag and heading out the door with Nino, also briefing her older sister to babysit for the night while she and Nino were out.

Not long later, Adrien head a yoyo swinging in the distance, the sound of it becoming louder. He could not wipe the smile off his face; his heart was racing with excitement, and almost feeling like he was in some sort of dream. Adrien continued his piano, missing a few keys, as all he could think about was the girl he loves appearing at her window any second now. Plagg was well hidden away, knowing Ladybug would be here soon he was already hidden within Adrien's jacket.

Then he saw those eyes, those remarkable shining bluebell eyes staring right at him. It was all he could stare at as she leapt into his room, approaching him slowly. He could tell his face was red, he could feel the heat intensify in his cheeks as he stopped playing and turned to her. She took out her hand, waiting for him to take it; a soft smile gleamed across her face as looked at her lovingly and took her hand.

The moment seemed so graceful and soft, as she wrapped an arm around him and headed out through the window. It seemed like forever, all Adrien wanted to do was to stare at her beautiful face for the rest of her night, and feel her soft touch. It was not long before they arrived at the rooftop, giving him serious déjà vu, as he realised she managed to replicate what he had done for her as Cat Noir.

"This is amazing Ladybug, I can't believe you did this."

After landing, she smiled with happiness and thanked him; she was beginning to proceed to the basket full of baked goods before her hand seemed stuck, before she saw it was still in his hand. Adrien held it tightly, his smile softened at the very sight of her, he did not want to let go of her hand. In that moment he pulled her towards him, she was surprised at this sudden move, almost like what Cat Noir would do.

He pulled her and wrapped his arms around his lady tightly, his head resting on her delicate shoulders "You mean so much to me, no one could ever understand…"

Ladybug swore if her chest was not pressed against his right now he would not feel heartbeat thudding into his chest, but she too felt his heart racing, she returning the embrace, wrapping her arms around him. Their eyes closed in unison as they shared a warm and tender embrace for a moment, sighing in deep happiness.

Unfortunately the moment had to break temporarily, as Ladybug proceeded to set up the food for them. Adrien immediately recognised the food as if it were from a bakery, and then remembering that she and Marinette were good friends, perhaps it was Marinette that helped provide the food for the night. He felt so loved having such a genuine friend like her around.

Sitting down, they both ate their food as they stared at the sunset, the sky glowed orange and pink, as the parting clouds followed the sunset, beaming the near night sky with a warm glow before the night arrived. Ladybug had candles set up all around the rooftop balcony much like he did for her once before, this moment reminded him too much of what could have been if she had shown up that night.

He couldn't help but sigh, unfortunately Ladybug noticed and asked almost instantly what was wrong. Adrien shrugged it off as he took a sip of his drink, as it was nothing she needed to worry about. Ladybug knew that there was something on his mind, but respecting his wishes, she did not ask again; instead, she talked more about Marinette to him.

"You know Marinette prepared the food for tonight, she hopes you like it." She said, eating another piece of bread.

Adrien nodded and smiled in delight. "I always love Marinette's food, much better food that I never have at home. She always seems to make the best food that never seems to leave me unsatisfied." He stated, smiling as he indulged himself in more of the food.

Ladybug smiled and blushed at the thought, she knew he loved the food she made, but hearing him saying it here, as she was Ladybug and not Marinette made it feel more heartfelt and honest to her. "I'm glad you like it, I'll be sure to tell her." She replied.

There was nothing but silence for a moment, Ladybug felt extremely hesitant about her next move, but she knew it felt right to do so. To delay it a bit further, she talked a little bit more about Marinette, so she could start to set up what she was going to do.

"She is a sweet girl Marinette." She said as she looked up at him.

Adrien nodded with a smile. "Yeah, she is really a good friend to have."

Her next words were risky, but she decided to take the risk and ask him anyway. "What do you think of her in comparison to me?"

There was a pause, he looked up from his food in shock at the thought, looking down in thought, he wondered why Ladybug would ask him to compare her to Marinette, but without questioning it, he answered for her. "Well, I actually think you and her are fairly alike, besides Marinette being a little clumsy and lost for words sometimes she does seem to take after you a lot." He explained, gesturing to her as he spoke.

A soft smile appeared on her face, she gestured for his hand, he took it in slight confusion and awe as she led them towards the back of the balcony, where there laid some comfortable cushions, the ideal place for just two people to sit together. Ladybug sat as Adrien followed, their hearts pounding, Adrien broke the silence with his voice.

"Why did you want to sit here?" He asked nervously, wishing his heart would stop racing in this very moment, but feeling Ladybug's hand intertwined with his was too much for him, he could not help it.

Ladybug looked down shyly, a red blush evident on her cheeks as she looked into his eyes. "I need to tell you something…but I don't know how to say it…" She admitted, her voice shaken by how nervous she was.

Adrien moved closer to her, their shoulders touching. "You can tell me anything Ladybug, I trust you." He promised, lifting her hand and kissing it, just as he would if he were Cat Noir.

She felt lost for words, seeing Adrien kiss her hand felt like her heart had stopped for a moment. Ladybug knew he cared so much for her, he needed to know the truth, even if it was at a great risk to her secret identity, he had to know who she really was behind that mask.

"Close your eyes."

Adrien did as she told, smiling as his eyes slowly closed. He heard her whisper something, was tempted to open his eyes, but that was before he felt her lips against his. Opening his eyes for a brief moment, he saw the girl behind the mask.

 **Oh boy, even my heart was racing towards the end; you have no idea how much I wanted to write this chapter, I just wish I didn't fall sick last week otherwise I would've uploaded sooner. Anyway, I think one or two more chapters should do, or I might just make the next one super long. I guess we will just wait and see.**

 **For now, you guys can be left on that cliff-hanger until I come back with another chapter! ^^**


	13. Longing Trust

**I think this chapter (and possibly the next one) will be extended as to ensure I don't go beyond 15 Chapters like I promised, but I do feel like we are coming to a close very soon. So long as I don't rush anything this story should end on a good note, and possibly followed by a sequel… ;)**

 **So I hope you enjoyed that cliffhanger from the previous chapter, time to find out Adrien's reaction to Ladybug's reveal. :D**

 **Miraculous Ladybug © Thomas Astruc/ Zagtoon**

 **Chapter 13 – Longing Trust**

He thought his eyes were deceiving him, as if he were in a dream, Adrien did not want to believe what he was seeing, but then the realisation flooded his mind as if a dam had been broken and all the thoughts gushed through his mind. All this time, the love of his life was Marinette, who was sweet, brave and a good friend to him. While in thought he continued to feel the bliss from her lips against his, on instinct Adrien wrapped an arm around her while the other caressed her face.

It felt so perfect in that moment, that not only was he kissing the one he loved so dearly for what seemed like forever, but discovering who she really was as well made his heart soar. That was until he realised that he had to tell her the truth about his secret identity, she needed to know that she was rejecting him this entire time, only to not realise that she was rejecting the person she was indeed in love with.

They broke slowly, their lips slightly wet but quickly dried as they parted, staring longingly into each other's eyes. He could see the evident blush on Marinette's cheeks. Adrien then understood just how similar Marinette was to Ladybug, it made so much more sense now, he felt as if he had been blinded by her heroic form that he failed to see it.

There were almost no words when it came to Adrien's reaction, nothing but a heart-warming smile spread across his lips. However, he knew Marinette was eagerly waiting for his response. Seeing the kwami by her side, he knew he had to speak up.

He shook his head and chuckled a little nervously, scratching the back of his head as he looked down for a moment to gather his thoughts. "You were Ladybug this entire time…" He said, his warm smile still present.

Marinette looked down, fumbling with the small pebbles on the ground as she felt her cheeks intensify with heat, looking at him and seeing that loving look is what she had been longing for ever since she grew feelings for him. She was about to speak before Adrien stood up, changing the mood slightly. Marinette looked up in confusion, and her feelings grew worried when she saw the worrisome look on Adrien's face.

Adrien reached down for her hand, she grabbed it gently as he pulled her up, instinctively grabbing her other hand as well. He looked down for a moment and breathed a heavy sigh, looking back into Marinette's magnificent blue eyes.

"There's something you should know about me." He stated, rubbing Marinette's hand with his thumbs gently.

Looking up at him, she saw him close his eyes, it was something serious by the looks of it, but she did not understand what. Tikki knew exactly what was going to happen, she smiled hopefully at Marinette as she saw Plagg peek from Adrien's coat. She breathed his name before Adrien whispered to himself and not a moment later, a familiar figure was standing before him, in his black suit and mask.

"Adrien…you were Cat Noir…?" She asked rhetorically, almost not wanting to believe it.

His full green eyes opened as he looked at his lady lovingly. "I have been, and I realise now why you rejected me so much…my lady." He admitted, pausing before he said his iconic words only Ladybug would know.

Those two words caused Marinette's heart to race, her teeth clenched shut and her eyes widened as her cheeks grew almost the darkest shade of red. "I had no idea…" Marinette breathed, as she intertwined her fingers with his. "I can't believe I was in love with Cat Noir this entire time…"

Cat Noir smiled adoringly as he tilted his head slightly. "And I can't believe I've been in love with Marinette who I always thought was only a great friend. But now I see that she is the love of my life."

He approached her lips, and she accepted willingly, her hand intertwined with his as the other placed gently on his shoulder as he leaned in for a longing kiss. His arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer to him. The warmth of the kiss seemed to make their faces turn red in the moment, their eyes closed, the bliss and heaven they felt in that moment was unimaginable.

Unbeknownst to the new loving couple, Alya and Nino had just witnessed Adrien's revelation, realising that it all made the more sense now. Adrien loved her so much but didn't realise he was in love with not just Ladybug but Marinette as well, and it made more sense to Nino as to why Adrien would seem so in love whenever Ladybug were mentioned or if he were to talk about her at all.

They decided they should stop spying on them, it did not feel right to ruin their special night. It was the biggest revelation the superhero couple had witnessed, and it was very much best to leave them be.

Not long later, they returned to their own place, as it was beginning to get dark, they phone-called each other almost the instant they walked into the front door of their respected houses.

"Do we say anything to them?" Nino asked, almost dashing by his little brother before ruffling his hair as he walked past.

Alya greeted her sisters for a moment, covering the phone as she did so, not long before she headed to her room to continue the conversation. "I don't think it would be a good idea right now, I'd say give them some time to themselves for a while first." She informed with a stern expression.

Nino paused for a moment. "But, wouldn't they have to say something to everyone eventually? I mean, not their secret identities…but surely if they really are starting a relationship that would be hard to hide…" He admitted, shrugging his shoulders as he looked down, remembering he too hid his and Alya's relationship for a little while.

He knew she understood what she meant, it was best for the both of them to wait until Marinette and Adrien told them that they were together now. "We'll wait for them to tell us, and then we'll tell them we know."

Meanwhile, the pure bliss felt between the blonde haired teen and the dark haired radiated all around them, warmth and comfort filled the air, it was as if they were floating on air in that very moment.

Cat Noir stuttered a little, truly realising he was lost for words in front of Marinette, whom he would always talk to every day quite easily, but now everything was different. "I…um…" He paused, looking down, before pressing his lips together tightly and looking up at Marinette with a bright and confident smile. "I just can't believe that all this time, the love of my life has been sitting right behind me in almost every classroom."

Marinette giggled, shrugging her shoulders a little before she glanced at Tikki, whom was also giggling in unison with her. "I just can't believe that she knew all along whom you really were." She said, her head turned towards her kwami.

"It was painful, but I'm sure your kwami had a much tougher job hiding it than I did." She joked towards Cat Noir, smirking with a wink.

Within a moment, he understood what she meant. Cat Noir immediately transformed back into Adrien as Plagg flew out with a huge sigh of relief. "You have no idea how painful it was to keep that from you." He exclaimed, crossing his arms as he pouted.

Adrien chuckled before he rubbed the little kwami's head with his finger. "It really looks like that was painful for you, especially all the times I said Marinette was just my friend." He stated, glancing back at Marinette with an adoring look. "Now, if my lady wishes to give me her permission, I would love to call her my girlfriend."

Instantly, Marinette gasped in response, part of her was not expecting him to ask that so soon, yet alone accept who Ladybug really was. However, she could see in his eyes that he truly cared for her, and in that moment she too realised that she loved him as Cat Noir, and understood why he seemed to act so differently than he normally would.

He grasped her hand in his own; clenching it tightly as he eagerly awaited her response, his eyes gleaming with hope, and his smile wide and bright. Marinette looked down shyly, almost completely lost for words. She was in awe of what was happening in this very moment, feeling like she was definitely not expecting this to happen after she revealed who she was to him.

Glancing at her kwami, she saw Tikki instantly smiling with glee and nodding in agreement. She turned back to Adrien, who was beginning to worry slightly as she took so long to respond. Before Adrien could feel a shred of doubt, Marinette placed her other hand over his gently, she leaned in close to him, their noses almost touching.

"I could never ask anything more from you Adrien; you mean so much to me and I never want to lose you." She said lovingly, her hand gently brushing up his arm. "I would love to be with you." She added to her final words, before her lips softly pressed against his once more.

They embraced for a moment, Plagg gagging at the sight of it all while Tikki silently watched in awe as the two teens fell into each other's arms, finally embracing what they had been missing for so long.

It was not long later that it was beginning to get too dark for the both of them; Adrien knew his father would worry if he were to find his only son missing. Marinette understood as she proceeded to blow out the candles, also followed by some familiar words that almost made Adrien awe in response.

"He loves me…he loves me not…" She continued as she blew them out one by one.

When it came to the last candle, he blew it out before she could. "I love you." He said, finishing her words.

In that moment she felt her heart race and her face intensify with heat, she only dreamt that Adrien would ever say those words to her. Hearing them for real just made her want to smack her face and pinch herself, because this was literally a dream come true. Adrien pulled her in for a tight and warm embrace, his hands travelling up and down her back, wanting to caress her so much and never let go.

Unfortunately they had to get home, the last light was about to disappear and soon it would just be the twinkling stars and the half moon in the sky. They both sighed with a smile after the embrace before they held each other's hands for one last moment, reaching in for one last peck before they parted.

They both transformed and returned home, with nothing but the thoughts of what just happened never leaving their minds.

Adrien transformed back the moment he landed in his room, he felt full from the food, tired but most of all felt happy. He crashed onto his bed and reviewed the previous events with Plagg; all that the kwami seemed to respond with was gags and negative phrases.

Out the corner of his eye, he swore he saw something in his bathroom, but thought nothing of it as his eye began to close on him. With all that just happened, his thoughts were exhausted and he needed to rest. Plagg flew immediately into his cupboard filled with his delicious creamy yet smelly cheese. Neither of them noticed that Gabriel had walked out from the bathroom with the look of horror on his face; he closed the door behind him silently and remained quiet for the rest of the night.

The next day could not have come any sooner; Marinette was ever so keen to see Adrien today, because she knew it would be nothing but joy and happiness between them now. She continued smiling dreamily at her pictures of Adrien before Tikki made a valid question.

"How are you going to explain this to Alya?" She asked in a worried tone.

In that very moment, Marinette almost dropped her coat she was about to put her arms into the sleeves of it. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped in that moment. She realised that both her and Adrien would have to tell them, it would be way too hard to keep this sort of thing a secret, but at the same time she needed to think of a reason as to why all of a sudden she and Adrien are a couple now.

"That's just it Tikki, I don't know how to explain it…it only makes sense if she knew who I really was and who Adrien really was. Unless I can find a cover up excuse in the next twenty minutes I may as well be doomed the moment Adrien comes up to me and we start behaving like a couple…" She groaned as she let her body fall into her desk chair and her head to bang on the desk.

Tikki tilted her head in slight confusion, but understood it was going to be tough if she was to tell the truth, but she knows Marinette will make the right decision.

 **Think I will leave it there, the next chapter may or may not be short, but there are only a couple more things to wrap up in this story anyway that I would rather have their own chapter for. After all a lot has happened already in this chapter, it might be best to give you all a little breather before the ending. ;)**

 **Well only one chapter left to go now, and I will finally have finished this story. I hope you are all prepared for it. ^^**


	14. Friendly Assurance

**So I know some of you are highly interested in a plot point I don't touch on much, just be assured that I wasn't actually meant to put that plot point in the initial story…I normally just add as I go along, and now because you guys actually are into that significant plot point I feel like making a sequel would be the best way to address it so late into this story. I just don't have enough time in this story to flesh it out some more.**

 **Well, looks like this is the final chapter of Love Behind a Screen, and don't worry, I promise to end it well for you all to be eager to see a sequel come out of it in the near future. ;)**

 **Enjoy the final chapter! ^^**

 **Miraculous Ladybug © Thomas Astruc/ Zagtoon**

 **Chapter 14 – Friendly Assurance**

Marinette felt like she was shaking as she walked across the street towards the school, she had not thought this through; all she could think about was what happened the night before. It was a lot for her to take in, so Tikki understood that Marinette could not think of everything at that time. The dark haired teen spotted her best friend talking with Nino, she panicked and immediately hid behind the corner, peeking in and seeing Alya still casually talking to Nino.

"I don't know what to do…I need to tell her before it gets worse!" She cried in a whisper tone, holding her bag up closer to her face.

Tikki peeked out a little, looking over at Alya and then smiling. "Don't worry so much Marinette, you could always make up an excuse, or even tell her that you showed up last night instead of Ladybug and your words made him fall for you." She explained, seeing as that would be a perfect explanation after what Marinette had told her previously.

She sighed in thought, as she remembered what she told Alya the day before. "I guess that could work…" She replied, looking down slightly with a worried look, before peeking around the corner again.

"Hello." A voice called from behind and touched Marinette's shoulder.

Immediately shaken by the touch and voice of another person behind her, she stumbled to the ground, gasping as she almost collapsed until someone caught her hand. Marinette then instantly recognised that touch; her cheeks were burnt red as she looked to see Adrien holding her back up.

He chuckled as he helped her back on her two feet. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you my lady." He ended with a smirk and a wink, seeming proud that he was allowed to say his Cat Noir phrases outside of his mask.

Marinette covered her mouth slightly as she giggled. "You know better than to not sneak up on me, pussycat." She joked with a poke at his shoulder.

They stared at each other for a moment, both just happy and content with what they had become, there was still a lot to process about everything, but one thing was for certain, and that was they both loved each other very much.

Holding her hand, Adrien began to walk around the corner, but he felt Marinette pull back, he turned in confusion and then turned back at the corner with Marinette.

"Are you scared to tell her?" He asked, peeking over at Alya.

Marinette nodded with a worrisome look. "I figure if I just tell her that it was me that you fell for yesterday she'd understand and wouldn't take suspicion." She stated.

Adrien looked down in thought, before looking back up with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. "You really talk about me a lot with Alya don't you?" He asked, leaning in close to her face.

Biting her lip, part of her wanted to deny it, but she knew it was too obvious at this point. Instead, she nuzzled his nose and giggled in response. "Of course I do, you're the most amazing person I know."

Lovingly, he approached her for a kiss; Marinette pecked him on the cheek, as they were in public she did not want to attract too much unwanted attention, Adrien knew this instantly and winked at his lady. He looked over at Nino and Alya again, who seemed to be looking for them, especially Nino since he was standing right where Adrien's car would be right now.

"I say we just roll with it. If you told Alya about what you were going to do last night, I think that should be enough for them not to know what really happened." He assured her as he rested a hand on her shoulder.

Marinette smiled adoringly in return, before gently intertwining her fingers with his as they proceeded around the corner to Alya and Nino. Feeling her heart begin to race, Marinette hesitated by walking a little bit slower than Adrien, but unfortunately his pace did not slow down so she was forced to walk at the same pace as him as to not look to suspicious.

Looking down, she nervously waited for Alya and Nino to say something, but knew she should've expected an angry voice to shout from behind them.

"Adrien! How dare you hold hands with Dupain-Cheng!" Chloe yelled, pointing her finger at Marinette rudely.

They turned briefly, knowing now that most of the students outside were now looking at them. They should have seen Chloe coming, but were more focused on their best friends' reaction and not hers.

Adrien sighed, his open hand running through his hair. "Look Chloe, you need to understand that you and I are good friends. I've found the girl I want to be with and that is Marinette." He declared, letting go of her hand, and instead wrapping an arm around her, causing Marinette to fall silent.

Chloe growled as she stomped away, declaring that it wasn't over to Marinette, Sabrina quickly followed while looking back and smiling, seeming happy for the new couple.

The young couple looked at each other lovingly, before Alya's voice caused them to both look in front.

"Well now, what happened here Marinette?" She asked teasingly, her arms crossed and a smirk heavily evident on her face.

Nino chuckled in awe. "I didn't know you liked Marinette, I thought you said you two were just friends." He stated.

Pulling Marinette closer to him, he nodded in agreement to Nino. "Yep, well…that's what I initially thought. However that was before that amazing dinner last night she made, and made me fall for her." He explained, caressing Marinette's cheek.

Alya hummed in mild suspicion before turning to Marinette. "So it seems your plan of being yourself actually worked for once." She claimed, nodding slightly.

Marinette shrugged as she looked away shyly. "I guess it did."

Turning their heads to one another, they both knew that they had to tell them they knew of their secret, it seemed fitting to do it now instead of delaying it any further. Another plus was that it would benefit all four of them if they all knew now instead of later.

"We need to tell you something…"

Adrien and Marinette looked at the two of them in confusion, turning to Nino before he said the words that made their expressions forever shocked.

"We know you're Ladybug and Cat Noir…"

They both fell silent in that moment, before Adrien spoke up first, knowing that it was too late to hide their identities after their reaction he immediately asked how. "How could you have known? I never told anyone, I only told Marinette last night…"

Alya and Nino folded their arms simultaneously as they seemed pleased with themselves. "When you told us you're in love with Ladybug, we could only assume, but we had to be certain." Alya informed, looking over at the two of them. "Oh, and Marinette….I found out who you were when you were in the bathrooms not too long ago."

Marinette was lost for words, not long before the bell rang, snapping her out of her dazed and confused trance. "You were in the bathrooms…? I never saw you." She replied, looking down slightly saddened.

"You two don't have to worry, we promise not to tell anyone." Nino assured, gesturing to both himself and Alya.

Alya nodded with an assuring smile. "In fact, this could benefit all of us now that we all know who you two really are. Nino and I can help you get out of classes or any other situation so you two can transform."

Marinette looked up at the very moment of Nino saying her name. "Marinette, we can help you as Carapace and Rena Rouge whenever you need two extras by your side." He said with determination.

It all seemed to go well for the four of them, as they headed to class they all talked about the countless benefits this would give them now that they all know. At first, Adrien and Marinette seemed sceptical about their best friends knowing, but did trust them enough to keep their secret identities safe. It would be tough for Marinette and Adrien to get some time alone from Alya and Nino, now that they knew about their secret identities they'd want to ask a million questions, but they knew they'd both be able to handle it.

Not long later, they all walked into class, Adrien proudly holding Marinette's hand and placing a gentle peck on her cheek before they sat down together.

At that very same moment, Gabriel was looking again at photos of Adrien and Cat Noir, almost growling when he thought back to what he saw the night before. Nathalie walked in shortly after, already been told that Adrien was discovered to be Cat Noir.

"Sir, now that you have discovered your son to be Cat Noir, how are you going to get his miraculous and Ladybug's?" She asked.

Gabriel flipped through more images of Ladybug and Cat Noir, seeing their strong chemistry between each other. He smirked when he saw a post from Chloe, announcing that Adrien and his school friend Marinette just started dating.

"That shouldn't be too difficult, because I know who Ladybug is now."

THE END…FOR NOW… ;)

 **And that's it for this story! What did you think of my cliffhanger right at the end? Now that was the plot point I accidentally added in and people seemed to start taking interest in it. So, I've decided to have Gabriel pursuing Marinette and his son for the miraculous in another story, as this does branch off into something new anyway.**

 **Phew, you have no idea how relieved I am to have finally completed this story, it has been so long and I wished I had completed this many months ago, but I am glad I managed to finish it now. Now it is time for me to take a little break from writing till maybe the end of the month maybe and then I'll get to writing the sequel to this story.**

 **I'm glad you all stayed around to read the ending of the story, I promise to not disappoint you all when I come to uploading the sequel story. ;)**

 **See you all next time! ^^**


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